New media law a retrogression
‘Don’t send us back to the dark days’
“IN the article titled ‘More Oppressive Laws’ that I wrote for Al-Rai daily on Wednesday 10th April, I had indicated that the new ‘Unified Media Law’ is unbelievably dreadful particularly in the current times of ‘data revolution’,” columnist and Director of Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters wrote for AlRai daily.
“In that article, I had specified that the proposed bill is a nasty insult to the image of Kuwait at the Arab and international levels particularly in the field of freedom and human rights. I had stated this in the article even before I read all the terms and conditions of the bill.
“This reminded me of a strange incident that occurred in our country in 1986 after the unconstitutional dissolution of the thenNational Assembly. The country had suspended the Constitution and a preemptive censorship was imposed on the local press and various printed matter. The situation was so bad that if the word ‘democracy’ was discovered in any article, it would be deleted and eventually, this resulted in a drastic deterioration of intellectual and literary achievements during those ‘black years’.
“Today, such incidents seem like unbelievable myths and tales for the new generation which currently basks in all forms of knowledge sources and social networking websites.
“However, it is apparent that the Ministry of Information wants to bring back the horrible and scary atmosphere that was prevalent in the country in the wake of the unconstitutional dissolution of the National Assembly in 1986. It is ignoring the fact that any such move taken by the ministry will affect the citizens’ sense of safety and security negatively. The endorsement of such a bill will lead to a reaction of widespread anger especially with the current changes that are occurring in the Arab World.
“In addition, if they reinstate the notorious preemptive censorship, which was nullified in 1992, it certainly will have an absurd and negative effect on the textbooks of our schools. It is glaring that that such a prospective censorship will be logically unacceptable.
“Furthermore, this particular bill has shocked the writers, media men and owners of local newspapers, causing them to denounce the bill which is definitely not in line with the current age of press freedom and information technology.
“It seems the government, by proposing such a bill, is not concerned about the culture, literature and arts. Activities of these fields will witness a drastic setback in case the concerned authorities of the country endorse the bill. The local writers and educated people have realized in advance that the preemptive censorship, which would be imposed on them by the Ministry of Information, will be done so by employees of the ministry who would have no idea about evaluating related studies or artworks.
“I cannot help but wonder how the proposed law will impact the publications, printed matters, intellectual and scientific studies, and artworks issued by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters? Would they be subjected to the preemptive censorship? If so, it would be easier for the government to shutdown the Scholars Association, Kuwait Reformative Arts Society, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, and rest of the intellectual associations in the country.”
Also: “For the last six decades, the Arab World has been a captive of various ideologies such as communism, nationalism, Baathism and socialism to such an extent every Arab State had selected its name in line with a particular ideology,” columnist wrote for AlTaleea weekly.
“In other words, these ideologies were promoted at the expense of the nation, which resulted in strange patterns of political regimes in the Arab World such as that of Muammar AlGaddafi of Libya, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, AlAssad of Syria, Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and so on.
“All of the above regimes had come into political power through military coups and imposed their dictatorships on everything in their countries.
“Regarding the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the event carried a significant dimension beyond the reunification of Germany. It indicated the collapse of Soviet Union and appearance of many socialist republics, nationalistic and communist States.
“Recently, the Arab World experienced the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ which seemed as though it liberated the concerned nations from oppression and restrictions that were imposed on those countries for the last six decades. This did happen even though some people still insist that the ‘Arab Spring’ paved way for the appearance of new ideologies, the principles of which are represented by Islam and the method by secularism. However, the appearance of new youth movements and revolutions indicate that these youths prefer to keep themselves away from the new ideologies that comprises of Islamic values and secularism.
“In conclusion, the ideologies that prevailed in the Arab World last century are no longer capable of meeting the demands and ambitions of the current generation of youths, particularly since it is obvious that the youths are eagerly looking forward to building new developed communities that boast of security, safety, stability and democ-
racy.”
“The Group of 29 (G29) will next week organize a press conference to discuss about the Bedoun issues and related solutions. Several international human rights organizations, civil society organizations, concerned personalities and human rights activists will participate in the event,” columnist wrote for Al-Jaridah daily.
“The attendees will listen to the submissions and deliberate with the civil society organizations to ensure the conference produces comprehensive and fair solutions that are appropriate for humanity and will redeem the battered image of our country, as this matter has eaten deep into the system for over five decades. The most dangerous aspect of this matter is the failure of government and civil society organizations in carrying out their responsibilities properly. The conference will work assiduously to resolve the issue and close the file in line with human rights and legal principles.
“If government and Kuwaiti society accept the presence of stateless individuals in the society, it will pave way for guaranteeing civil rights and nationality to the latter. The decision taken must be in line with the international agreement on stateless individuals, which regards them as people who are not accepted legally as citizens of any country. It stipulates that the concerned government must naturalize the deserving ones among the stateless people, while providing the rest with protection, human rights, indefinite stay or at least accept them into the system through laiddown legal criteria for people that can obtain citizenship.”
“During the time when mercenaries started rushing into Syria, the Solidarity Front group entered the Syrian territories through the border of Turkey, which is an Israeli ally,” columnist wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“This action signifies the launch of efforts by Zionists and Western colonialists to oust the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and replace it with a pro-Western government as a measure to guarantee the security of Israel. The Solidarity Front is a wing of the Al-Qaeda network. It is apparent that Al-Qaeda, Israeli Mosaad and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are working together.
“I had clarified this statement in an article I wrote about a year ago. These three groups are the ones executing heinous actions such as bombings and massacres with the cooperation of mercenaries supporting Mosaad and the CIA. Members of the group in both Iraq and Syria have announced the unification of the fronts under the name ‘Islamic Nation in Iraq and Al-Sham’ led by Ayman AlZawahri.”
“The daily on Friday published an article about the Arab Spring, stating that America created it as part of a well-orchestrated plan 10 years ago,’’ columnist
wrote for Al-Watan daily. “The aim was to divide and instigate chaos in the Middle East, especially in the Arab countries. It would not have succeeded without the help of the Arab leaders themselves. In a video which dates back to 2003, former CIA Director James Woolsey revealed the plan will be implemented through the assistance of Arabs who suffer from the unjust acts of their leaders; thereby, preparing the ground for the people to revolt against their rulers. In short, the Western countries are not here for the sake of the oppressed Arabs.
“On the 11th of September 2001, some crazy ignorant people decided to attack America, but until now only the senior officials of the CIA know the details of the attack. This incident gave the West a green light to wage war against Afghanistan and Iraq. It gave them an excuse to interfere with the internal affairs of Arab and Muslim nations and the fight against terrorism has yet to end.
“It is no secret that the American administration had given Saddam Hussein the go signal to invade Kuwait and later on turned against him. This was revealed by 1992 American presidential candidate and millionaire Ross Perot.
“The Al-Watan daily article concluded by asking, ‘Will the Arabs and Muslims wake up after such revelations?’ My answer is ‘no’. We are in a coma. However, we still hope there will come a time that we will realize we are no longer tools to be used against ourselves. I wish the ongoing chaos and wars will be taken to America, where Muslims will invite people to embrace Islam in the middle of American society.’’
“I am one of those who don’t understand why some people want to know everything about the lives of artistes, athletes, musicians and other creative individuals. These people eagerly read news on these personalities in newspapers, magazines and social networking sites; even if the report has nothing to do with their creative activities,” wrote for AlJaridah daily.
“This has become a huge industry, especially with the emergence of the so-called paparazzi who do everything just to get the latest information about famous people. Earlier, I believed that mere curiosity had prompted these people to know even the most confidential information and other aspects of the lives of famous personalities. Nevertheless, I discovered later that ordinary people want to know about the other side of celebrities. They want to know the people behind the artistic works they see; while some wish to imitate them and become celebrities themselves.
“Actually, people can be whatever they want to be through determination and the environment in which they move does not really determine the extent they can go. Human beings have the ability overcome any negative situation and even turn it into something positive.”
“Corruption is not merely theft from a project or bribery when floating a tender to a corrupt company. Bad and stupid management is the key reason behind the widespread corruption in the country,” columnist
wrote for Al-Anba daily. “In other words, theft and criminal violations are not necessarily the main reasons for depletion of millions from the public fund, as bad management by the concerned officials is reason enough for such depletion.
“If the issue of criminal violations committed against public funds is taken to court, the officials responsible for the bad management would not only be fired but also punished.
“Unfortunately, there is a big list of suspended projects and another with the failed projects because of the discrimination shown in recruiting inefficient individuals as top officials of governmental offices even though they neither know the basics of management nor possess the required skills.”
“Proving their keenness to protect national unity, the Shiites, who own the Baharina Mosque, withdrew the case filed against the Sunni accused of causing damages to the mosque. We are sure the same thing will happen if the accused is a Shiite and the mosque owners are Sunnis. Kuwaitis treat each other with respect and tolerance because they were raised this way,” wrote for AlSeyassah daily.
“The astonishing aspect of the case is that the perpetrator is a youth; like those who were encouraged to storm the National Assembly and Al-Watan premises. It gives an impression that the youths have become the escape goats in destructive acts initiated by others.
“Apparently, the youths do not get proper care from the authorities, including the government which should listen to their demands, generate more jobs for them and solve their problems. If we get into the roots of the issue, we will realize that some groups have been moving to brainwash the youths but the government has not lifted even a finger to address the issue.
“If no concrete step is taken, the problem might be blown out of proportion; considering some unscrupulous individuals have been trying to influence the mindset of the youths to serve personal interests. The concerned authorities must get their acts together before it is too late.”
“The stand of Gulf countries on Iran is confusing. Sometimes they treat Iran as a friend and then at other times it becomes their enemy. We have witnessed the GCC states sending their ambassadors to Tehran, while warmly welcoming the representatives of Iran; yet they have been releasing statements denouncing Iran for occupying the islands of UAE,” wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“We have seen these nations exchange visits, even naval and air trips are becoming crowded and if there is any opportunity there would have been wilderness trips. These days, people cannot find places to go or come back from Iran, which means prosperity in communication and in the passengers’ movements.
“This is happening even if we claim Iran is the enemy of the Gulf countries. We have commercial or business relations with the country and most of the products sold locally were manufactured in Iran. Despite this, we raise doubts or get mad whenever we hear news about the relationship between Iran and Egypt as if we are the only ones who have the right to have links with this country.
“As citizens, we have the right to discuss and condemn whatever we deem displeasing. Talking and writing about issues are the only tools we have to express our views even if they are not that effective in conveying our message to the relevant authorities.”
“In our dear generous country, individuals and corporate bodies benefit from humanitarian issues, including those concerning the handicapped, because the people are willing to support the less privileged,”
wrote for Al-Watan daily. “We have been hearing several demands for assistance. Unfortunately, the cooperative societies have opened a door for supporting the needy but those with special needs have been left behind as there are no specific structures for them in various regions. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has also made them the source of income for people without conscience.
“It is good to encourage private companies to participate in campaigns for service in the society with budget allocation. I want to thank companies involved in volunteer work without waiting for something in return. Voluntary activities have the element of humanity if services are offered for free to the public.
“However, I urge individuals, companies and establishments keen on engaging in voluntary activities or supporting similar projects to ask the organizers to obtain approval from the ministries of Health and Education and other relevant agencies to prevent some people from taking advantage of such programs to achieve personal goals.”