‘ICC unlikely to condemn Israel’

‘Global bodies prove failure again’

“THE US government exerted great efforts to prevent Palestine from joining the United Nations as a “non-member observer state,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, an advisor of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Chairman of the Arab Human Rights Fund

wrote for daily. “In spite of this, Palestine in 2012 won the observer status through an overwhelming majority, because Palestine is the permanent visitor to the United Nations since 1947 and it is worth mentioning 79 resolutions on Palestine Cause had been issued by this international organization.

“In this context, we say most of the proposals that were subjected to voting through the United Nations authorities in general and the General Assembly in particular were during the past twenty years and endorsed by these authorities in favor of Palestine.

“In spite of the above, we also observed that when the voting in United Nations was more and more in favor of Palestine, the US attitudes against the Palestinian Cause increased, and the Israeli racism against Palestinians aggravated.

“Speaking of the decision that was taken recently by the Public Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is actually legal in nature not political. (ICC groups 123 members including Palestine).

“In this connection, we say the Zionist entity has crossed all the limits and this is confirmed even by Israel’s supporters. This happens at a time where the legal criteria are measured by the international mutual understanding even if the latter are just for show of hands.

“However, the Bensouda statement implicitly says that she intends to leave for Palestine to investigate the issue even if without permission from the preliminary circuit of ICC, indicating she is currently convinced that based on the evidence referring that crimes of war had been committed by Israel in the Palestinian occupied territories and as such this statement is historical that has been been issued for the first time.

“It is needless to say there are many hurdles to prevent this statement becoming a reality, particularly since we know that Israel has opposed this statement by saying it has not signed Rome Agreement establishing the International Criminal Court (Israel along with America and most of the Arab states had agreed to remain hostile to this Court).

“Such being the case, Israel and other states are not subject to ICC jurisdiction. For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was recently quoted as saying, ‘The International Criminal Court is currently used as a weapon against Israel and as such this statement is not acceptable, because the request should come from a state and Palestine is not a state.’

“But Netanyahu ignored that the international law has decided that the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem are not part of Israel.

“However, for her part, Bensouda has requested the judges of the International Criminal Court to provide her with a clarification in this connection as well as over the decision to visit Palestine, but it is observed that the court has been slow in dealing with her request, because this request has been submitted after repeated Palestinian requests that had been submitted since 2015.

“As a matter of fact, the Palestinian leadership was exposed to pressures not to apply to become a member of Rome Agreement, but the situations had gone from bad to worse to such an extent the circumstances were used as an element of pressure in the belief that the complaint against Israel at the International Criminal Court will negatively affect the Oslo Agreements and the peace discussions between Palestine and Israel.

“But for the time being and post the AmericanIsrael racist rash policies and recklessness, the above is no longer convincing to anybody and we venture to say there is no state at the moment which is convinced of this evidence except America and Israel.

“Anyway, I am not optimistic about the ICC plan or about the possibility of issuing statements condemning Israel and this reflects as usual the fiasco of the international organizations.

“But it is needless to say a move like this, shall actually constitute a significant element to expose the Israeli practices, violations and the crimes of war against the Palestinians. The move shall represent a part of a long battle, particularly since we know that this move is undertaken by an independent and relatively non-political authority as such, its activities will be similar to the reports that were prepared by the independent international commissioners and their like.”

Dr Najjar

“Lewis Freyer is a Belgian researcher who in 2012 founded an organization under the name ‘Organization of the Forgotten Soldier’,” columnist

wrote for daily. “This organization aims actually at shedding light on the significant role played by the Muslim soldiers through their effective participation within the armies of the Allies during World War I.

“Freyer says ‘although the number of the soldiers who fought alongside Britain, France and Russia, was 2.5 million, but this participation did not receive enough study and research nor the necessary appreciation which these heroic soldiers deserved.

“In his new study prepared to honor the Muslim soldiers who participated in the World War I, Freyer according to a statement that was issued by him, aims to get his study encounter a wave of exceeding hostility against the Muslims in the West to refute many of the allegations that have been adopted by the promoters of “Islamophobia” in Europe.

“Meanwhile, we know there is a huge cemetery in a Belgian city which holds the graves of more than fifty four thousand unknown soldiers who were killed during World War I in Ypres in Belgium alone. Freyer says many of these soldiers are Muslims who had participated in the first and second battle in Ypres 1914 and 1915 respectively, clarifying that the words which were written on the graves were in Arabic which reads ‘here is the grave of the deceased such and such’.

“Apart from the above, Freyer through his unique study cites some good examples about the relations linking the Allies soldiers irrespective of different religions and doctrines in spite of the cruelty of the war.

“He added, we found some personal memories related to many soldiers and containing a lot of impactful stories about the good relations between the Muslims, Christians and Jewish soldiers who were fighting alongside each other exchanging experiences, culture, food and music and even religious practices.”

“The Court of Cassation in Kuwait sentenced a Kuwaiti to five years imprisonment for affiliation to the Al-Nusra Front and fighting in Syria, which endangers the country’s higher interests,” columnist

wrote for daily. “Certainly, we respect the high and independent Kuwaiti judiciary, we respect its rulings and believe that the ruling is the title of the truth, but there is an important question: ‘Is there a provision in Kuwaiti law criminalizing party affiliation in general, and not fighting in Syria, or anywhere else unless this is by order and approval of the guardian, as happened in the Sinai or the Golan wars in 1967 and 1973.

“The important thing that we would like to know is, was the ruling issued against partisan affiliation or against fighting in Syria, then what about belonging to other parties, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, which is no less dangerous than Al-Nusra Front and Kuwait was almost lost because of it? Is joining this party a crime accounted by the law?

“The other important issue why didn’t the country provide the young men something to keep them preoccupied with something beneficial instead of them falling prey.

“Before partisan affiliation, these young people were of modest intellect, some of them were suffering from family problems, others were unsuccessful in education, and others lived on the sidelines of life, thus the parties found them easy preys.”

“The fatherly feelings of HH the Amir towards the families of Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Muhammad Al-Dossari yesterday during the meeting were overwhelming and full of love and kindness. They have a taste of forgiveness and a generous amnesty that exceeds the perfumes of musk and amber,” columnist

wrote for daily. “His Highness the Amir, who is known of his open heartedness towards everyone, received the pardoned with his usual smile and left them with the same bright smile.

“It is very clear that His Highness deals with the people as father with his sons, so he takes them with his care and receives them with the most luxurious reception in order to ensure the unique historical relationship between the ruler and the ruled on the land of Kuwait, which is always characterized by unparalleled serenity in our present time

“How beautiful is the love that His Highness the Amir is spreading, and the most wonderful values that His Highness establishes during those meetings with his sons who have returned to the homeland and won the pardon of HH the Amir.

“We hope the rest of the brothers will return to the bosom of the homeland, and that they will begin the same procedures that enabled those who preceded them to obtain the Amiri pardon.”

“A question and another question: What does the municipality do? And what it didn’t do?” columnist

wrote for daily. “Surprisingly in the first question, we see today the unprecedented efforts of the municipality to remove the encroachments in the suburb of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and return the area to the rule of law after in its geographical context the second question is surprising because we are surprised why the Municipality had to wait all this time to play its desired role which has allowed all violations and anarchy to continue beyond reason.

“After we ask the two questions, we will go beyond all their details to a third and more important question: Will the municipality lax again? Or will this chaos be the last straw of our sorrows?

“We hope that all officials in the Kuwait Municipality, which exemplified its strength in the application of the law and extended its influence throughout the country, return to the previous era and regain its agility and get rid of the violations.

“It is not only enough to remove the violations, but must impose fines on violators so that they will think ten thousand times before repeating their absurdities.”

“Gentlemen! We want to restore the image of the homeland that has prevailed since its inception – the cultural manifestations are the salient features of our regions and ‘chaos is the form of the devil’.”

“For many years, Government and Parliamentary committees have been holding meetings to discuss in their weekly sessions issues that are of importance to national development, and serve the interest of Kuwait and Kuwaitis. The two authorities have priorities that should be endorsed for implementation in a bid to spark reform in various aspects for the benefit of the country and those living in it, columnist

wrote for daily.

“Despite all efforts and time spent to discuss issues and approve so and so proposals for the interest of the country and its people, it’s rather sad that such decisions are only meant for the newspapers and television headlines and other news platforms, without any plan to activate or endorse them.

“Among the issues are unemployment and lack of job opportunities for recent graduates and voluntary unemployment, besides the fact that educational output does not match the labor market demand. I remember that Kuwait University and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training conducted a study 10 years ago regarding the issue, but where is the implementation? Is the problem resolved?

“A government-academic committee at the Supreme Council for Planning was formed to study and find solutions to the problem of education output and they promised to submit results and recommendations of the study in April 2019. Where is the study? We see them resolve on the ground, because they can’t stand further delay. I ask the Almighty Allah to grant them success for the benefit of the country and the people.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb