‘Demos continue till demands met’

‘Iraqis reject Iran interference in polls’

“THE peaceful Iraqi demonstrations against corruption, the sectarian quota system and the Iranian influence and intervention in the internal affairs of Iraq, have all resulted in the martyrdom of more than five hundred Iraqis in addition to thousands injured,” columnist Dr. Abdulmohsen Hamada wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“In spite of the above, the former Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdulmahdi is still accusing an unidentified third party of committing crimes against the demonstrators.

“For their part, the demonstrators themselves have dealt sarcastically with these statements and say the government and its security apparatus and secret service, must shoulder responsibility to identify the perpetrators and punish them.

“Not just that, the demonstrators went on to say, the government knows the suspects but may be it wants to cover them up or fears their reaction. In the meantime, the protestors have accused the pro-Iran militias for the massacres and the assassination of the activists to silence the Iraqi nationalists who have become very outspoken and seemingly threaten the interests of the concerned persons.

“As a matter of fact, the protestors since the outset of October 2019 are calling for toppling the entire ruling regime in addition to the exclusion of all political figures who are linked to this regime, because for the Iraqi revolutionaries the current Iraqi ruling regime and its symbols are behind the crises and the ordeals currently facing Iraq as people and state.

“Not just that, they say these symbols have encouraged the ‘backward’ Iranian regime of extending its influence into Iraq, as such this regime, has managed to promote its culture of agitating seditions and the struggles among the sons of the one people, hence, this regime, has founded its pro militias and financed the process of armament with Iraqi funds although the Iraqis continue to suffer from poverty and hunger.

“So it is not surprising that the Iraqis revolted against the Iranian influence as well as against the Iranian regime’s pro militias. Consequently, we found how the Iraqi ruling political powers which are loyal to Tehran still fighting to defend their political gains and strive to maintain its leading role in terms of ruling Iraq in addition to making its decisions in future.

“Therefore, these pro-Iran political powers are currently striving to impede the efforts that are aimed at enacting a new electoral law that shall guarantee the nomination opportunities for all and nullify the domination by big parties and political blocs in the electoral process as such these parties and blocs aborted the bill that called for dealing with the elections on individual basis.

“In this context, we say those who have submitted this bill said the latter were inspired by the demands of the Baghdad protestors and those from the central and southern governorates.

“Meanwhile, the pro Iran militias still reject the idea of organizing early elections, motivated by their fears that pro-Tehran parties will face an uphill task at the hands of the Iraqis during any early elections, because Iran realizes the volume of the popular anger among the Iraqis against its influence.

“However, it looks like the protestors are still determined to go ahead in their demonstrations until all their demands are met and eventually prevent the Iranian official Qassim Sulaimani (the commander of Al-Quds Corps) from playing any role in appointing the new Iraqi prime minister to succeed the toppled government of Adel Abdulmahdi, because they consider this as gross foreign intervention in Iraqi affairs.”

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Dr Hamada

“There is a war in Yemen and Libya in addition to bloody demonstrations in Iraq, Turkish military intervention in Syria, Iranian threat against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region and civil wars as well as some other wars which currently take place in most Arab states on behalf of foreign parties. This is in addition to the riots currently facing Lebanon and Somalia fuelled by the activities of Islamic extremist groups,” columnist and professor Dr Abdulmalek Khalaf Al-Tamimi wrote or Al-Jarida daily.

“Given the above, we wonder, what will happen? And in which age we are living? Does the Ottoman and the Iranian mentality still dominate the agenda to encountering the opportunism and the interests of the great powers such as America, Russia and Europe?

“Apart from the above, we wonder, if the mentality of the ethnic, racist, sectarian and provincial struggle is still ingrained in the hearts and the minds of the Arab peoples? Do we still live the dark ages – the ages of Dahes and Ghabra war (this war occurred prior to Islam between two Arab tribes called Abs and Thubian and lasted for seventy years). Have we yet to enter the realm of contemporary civilization as such we have failed to build and groom our communities to enable them to encounter both the local and regional challenges?

“In the past, the danger was from Western and imperialistic powe but now we have become independent. However, for the time being, the danger seems regional – from Iran and Turkey -- and this means the sovereignty and the independence of our Arab states are in danger.

“In this context, we think Iran is currently threatening more than one Arab country, while Turkey is looking forward to overrun Syria. This happens although Turkey had already occupied Iskandaroun and Intakia of Syria in 1939. Nowadays, Turkey is overrunning North Syria under the justification of sending back the Syrian refugees to North Syria as well as protecting the security of the border areas between Syria and Turkey.

“It is needless to say both the Iranian and Turkish influences in question have created a bad situation in every Arab state to achieve their dreams and the dreams of Israel. Moreover, they are planning to annex more Arab territories and confiscate the Arab water sources. Given the above, we actually face real danger from at local and regional levels and the question here is what we do here.

“Certainly, unity and the self belief of every Arab state and cooperation to confront both the internal and external challenges, is the strategy that is the need of the hour, the first of which will be represented by fighting all corruption in all its shapes in addition to fighting the backward powers which currently dominate the body, spirit and mentality of the nation.

“However, if this happened, then we will be in a position to go beyond the phase of hardships and shift to a more progressive phase and ultimately take the reins of our sovereignty and independence through an able futuristic vision.

“In this context, we want to point out that the advanced world in both the East and the West feels surprised because the Arabs who at the moment possess all constituents of life and progress are still living in a state of fiasco because they have failed to actualize their constituents.

“As a matter of fact, we enjoy a distinct geographic location, human resources boast of educated people but we still lack the will and intact management, although we have the potentials and the constituents in two Arab countries – Iraq and Sudan – which are enough to achieve progress and enlightenment in the entire Arab world, in addition to the natural resources of the Arabian Gulf.

“It is needless to say all potentials will be enough to surmount all internal and regional dangers currently facing the Arab nation. The backwardness has encouraged neighbors to penetrate their countries and hurt its sovereignty by occupying some of its territories and promoting endless wars.

“However, we have to encounter the internal and the external dangers as well as the Iranian and the Turkish intervention. But the question here is, how? As a matter of fact, this is a difficult question.”

“His Highness the Amir, in his speech to the new government after they took the constitutional oath before him recently, drew a clear roadmap for the government when he said to them, “You have great responsibilities towards the country and citizens, especially in this important stage. You have carried a great trust and I have full confidence that you are worthy of it”, Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“His Highness the Amir also set for the government a number of priorities that must be focused on in the next stage, especially the need to redouble efforts, contribute to expediting the process of development and construction in the country, harness all efforts and capabilities for the advancement of the homeland and its public facilities, achieve the aspirations that the country and citizens seek, and embody respect for the Constitution, law, regulations, as well as ensure protection of public funds. All this will not happen except through hard work, spirit of one team, and fruitful and constructive cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities.

“His Highness the Amir also drew the milestones on the path towards achieving the desired goals. He emphasized that the ministers should work towards seeking and solving the problems that citizens face in ministries and government departments as well as simplifying administrative procedures within the framework of the application of laws and regulations.”

“Despite my great admiration for Sheikh Yousef bin Essa Al-Qenaei, and his enlightening, educational and reformist role, he was not the only enlightened men of religion who are characterized by the principles of tolerance and belief in the teachings of human religion. Most of the clerics in the last century followed the same pattern and adopted the same tendency”, Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The culture of the people of Kuwait, its poets, intellectuals and clerics were against extremism, militancy and backwardness, and attribute random matters to religion even though they have nothing to do with religion such as expiation for Muslims even if the differences are sub-level or secondary, and the curse and expiation of followers of other divine faiths such as Christians and Jews.

“It is said that the Jews of Kuwait, before they left following the events in Palestine in 1948, handed over the key of the Jewish synagogue in trust to Sheikh Yousef bin Essa Al-Qenaei until they return to Kuwait after the crises.

“Dr Khalifa Al-Waqyan stated in his book “Culture in Kuwait – Early Years – Trends – Leaderships” that Sheikh Abdullah Al-Nouri and his colleagues – Sheikh Abdulaziz Hamada and Sheikh Ahmad Atiya Al-Athari – used to visit their fellow Kuwaiti Christians on 25th of December each year to congratulate them on the occasion of Jesus Christ’s birthday.

“What we need most today is the ideals of the last century, as it contributed to the creation of the distinguished Kuwaiti personality. What we need is a pattern of religious thinking that builds and does not destroy. What we need is to restore respect for the Constitution and its articles.”

“Iraqi military analyst Ihsan Qaisoun was speaking in a very beautiful and simple way that delighted every viewer, then suddenly a male or female Arab presenter cut him short with a contribution that blew away the presentation. What a disaster! Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“On the Arab Sky News Channel last week, December 12, the analyst said the US forces faced armed attack in Baghdad.

“It is widely known that Iraqi parties sympathizing with Iran have military wings, so he predicted an attack on drones along the Iranian borders in northern Baghdad in a matter of days. It was at this point the presenter interrupted him as if she wanted to add her military knowledge! My sister, be patient a little…allow the man to complete his discussion for us to understand the issue.

“This is the attitude of the Arab media, so it is no surprise that Arabs don’t know anything about what is happening within their countries. Almost all Arab news do not analyze the situation in a simple manner. It is a sort of acrobatic action by jumping up while moving right and left. The news is in the form of dictation without stating the causes of problems, while nobody takes it upon himself to present an introduction regarding the causes of civil war in Libya. It is only about focusing on a party while neglecting another.”

“Is it reasonable that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled is being threatened with interpellations even before he finished forming and announcing his government and before taking the constitutional oath before His Highness the Amir and the Parliament,” Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“This important tool is for heavy questioning, not for threatening ministers or even the Prime Minister politically. It must be used only for major national issues instead of as a means to liquidate political opponents and defame ministers or overthrow them based on some dispute.

“It was noticed recently that some MPs are now using the language of the threat of interpellation for all incoming and outgoing matters, making this tool weak and sometimes useless. This is not what the legislator intended when he established such an important tool, as it was aimed to correct the flaws in the path of a minister.

“We, of course, are not against interpellations, as we have previously emphasized. It is the right of every MP to use this tool but we had hoped that the MPs would contribute to making this tool effective and of great value and influence in the balance of dealings between the legislative and executive powers.

“We believe that the conflict between the two authorities is useless for the citizens. Wasting time in using interpellations for marginal issues which can be handled through parliamentary questions is just like gambling with the time of citizens who are waiting for achievements, and looking forward to real development that will promote the country and place it in the position it deserves among the world’s nations.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb