Conference part of Kuwait’s supportive legacy

KUWAIT: The international conference on the suffering of Palestinian children, which will be hosted by Kuwait today and tomorrow, is part of the Kuwaiti continuous supportive legacy towards the Palestinian cause. Long before the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Kuwaitis have been supporting Palestinians against occupiers. In 1936, the first committee supporting the Palestinian people was established by Kuwaitis who gathered donations for Palestine. Beyond 1948, Kuwaitis have opened their country to receive Palestinians after they were exiled from their homeland by Jewish elements that formed the Zionist state of Israel.

Int’l stance

Kuwait’s international stance on the Palestinian cause was very visible and in 1963 then Foreign Minister and current Amir of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said that Palestinians have the right to return to their own lands. In 1964, Kuwait had donated a sum of one million Sterling Pound in support of the second Arab summit’s resolution that called for the formation of a free Palestinian army.

Kuwait renewed its international stance on the issue when again His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, then Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian lands.

The Gulf country was a key supporter of the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, allowing Palestinians in Kuwait to open funds and gather donations for their cause. In 1996, Kuwait provided a sum of $25 million was provided to autonomous Palestinian regions.

Kuwait repeated the act, donating $25 million in 1999 to the Palestinian national authority. The same year saw a $1.5 million Kuwaiti donation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In 2000, Kuwait’s late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah donated $150 million to support the Palestinian Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa intifada. In December of the same year, Kuwait called on the UNSC to end the continuous suffering of the Palestinian people by the hand of the brutal Israeli state.

Millions of Dollars

Between 2002 and 2005, Kuwait donated millions of US Dollars to support Palestine and UNRWA. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah donated $30 million in 2006 to support the Palestinian people. Kuwait pledged in 2007 to provide $300 million at the Paris donors conference for Palestine. In 2008, Kuwait signed with the World Bank an agreement to offer Palestinians a sum of $80 million.

During the Arab social and economic summit in 2009, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah pledged $34 million to cover the expenses of UNRWA. The same year saw Kuwait donating $200 million to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, which suffer throughout the years from brutal Israeli military aggressions.

Kuwait decided in 2011 to increase its contributions to UNRWA by $1.5 million. Kuwait and the World Bank inked again an agreement in favor of development in Palestine. The agreement was worth $50 million. — KUNA