‘Despots let revolutionists down’

‘Working class fodder for uprisings’

“LAST Saturday was the 64th anniversary of the Egyptian July 23, 1952 Revolution which opened the door to many Arab revolutions or the ‘liberation movements’ in the Arab World. These revolutions brought down some royal regimes and the feudal system, as well as surmounted colonial domination over the relevant countries,” columnist and former Director of the Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The revolution led to a lot of social, economic and cultural changes in Egypt. It contributed to the evolution of local production and the educational system, in addition to the nationalization of local installations that were subjected to colonial domination through collaboration between local feudalists and commercial monopolists.

“Apart from the above, one may observe that in the wake of this revolution, the Egyptian arts, music, concerts, formative arts, theatrical arts, cinema and literature witnessed absolute renaissance compared to their situation prior to the revolution.

“Unfortunately, the Arab revolution and the purported ‘blessed corrective revolutions’ were transformed into unhealthy phenomena in the relevant Arab countries, simply because these revolutions produced military and dictatorial regimes. The latter pulled the popular revolutions away from their original path and their objectives which were aimed at supporting freedom, democracy and social justice. Instead, they came up with other objectives that were derived from the experiment of the former Soviet Union and its effect on many countries.

“In other words, these revolutions started victimizing their elements, such that the prisons in the relevant countries increased and widened. These prisons witnessed the prevalence of torture against the inmates, some of whom were brutally executed just because of their intellectual properties while others were accused of plotting against the ‘revolution’.

“Such being the case, we found that irrespective of the quality of these revolutions, they did not transform into nationalistic and democratic revolutions in favor of the people. This happened because these revolutions require many years of political, economic and social stability as a prelude to surmounting backwardness, illiteracy and ultimately raising awareness among various components in the concerned countries.

“We say the above although we realized that neither imperialism nor Zionism will allow the Arab revolutions to push through in terms of developing their countries. This exactly happened in the wake of Arab revolutions in 2011 when the objective circumstances were ripe, but not the subjective ones.

“In this context, one may infer that the fault of the progressive and leftist powers among those who played their roles in the Arab revolutions was their dependence on the bourgeoisie when it comes to leading the revolutions. They ignored the fact that this would not work against their own interests, particularly since we know the bourgeoisie will, in one way or the other, turn into infantile producing class forming a coalition with the ruling regime. Eventually, this class will be involved in corruption which became rampant in different ministries and institutions under the concerned ruling regime.

“Actually, the leftist powers’ need for their people in general, and the working and marginalized class in particular, seems inevitable if they want their revolutions to succeed and defend the rights of all the people.”

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Al-Rujaib

“The revolution carried out by the ‘galaxy’ from the Egyptian army or the ‘free officers’ on July 23, 1952 was a popular revolution considering the full support given by the Egyptian people,” columnist Abdulmohsen Al-Hussaini wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“Almost all the Egyptians took to the streets to support this revolution, realizing that it was aimed at protecting their interests and restoring their rights which were looted by British imperialism. The latter controlled the potentials of the Egyptian State, so the revolution was a popular one by all means since it was striving to restore the rights of the people.

“It was a successful revolution because it toppled the unjust regime and transformed the country into a socialist nation keen on protecting the rights of peasants, thus, allowing them to cultivate their lands. The revolution led to the adoption of agrarian reform to develop the Egyptian agricultural sector and then rise above feudalism.

“The revolution also paved way for the implementation of a huge project — the ‘high dam’ — which was designed to store water from the Nile River for the use of the entire Egyptian nation.

“Apart from the above, the revolution resulted in significant and essential changes in the Egyptian educational system focusing on the history of Egypt and Egyptian values. It also played a significant role in tapping the potentials of the Egyptian army which managed to face Israeli, British and French aggression on Egypt in 1956 when these three powers tried to occupy Suez Canal at a time the revolution leader’s decided to nationalize this strategic canal.

“Furthermore, the revolution improved the country’s foreign relations as evident in its participation in many international conferences and forums aimed at expanding the role of Egypt in the international arena. As a result, Egypt played an important role in founding the Non-Aligned Movement in Bandung City, Indonesia in 1955.

“In the wake of the revolution, Egypt developed its relations with other Arab countries, let alone its role in providing these countries with physicians in a bid to contribute to Arab human development.

“In light of the above, one may conclude that Egypt’s July 23 Revolution is the mother of all of Arab revolutions whose objective was to liberate the Arabs from Western imperialistic domination. Therefore, one may refer to the role that the Egyptian revolution played in supporting the revolutions in Iraq on July 14, 1958, in Yemen on Sept 26, 1962 and in Libya revolution on Sept 1, 1969, in addition to supporting the national powers of Syria, Algeria and Lebanon to enable these countries to improve their situations.

“Moreover, one may also cite the distinguished role of the Egyptian revolution in supporting the Palestinian revolution and the Palestinian’s struggle to achieve their objective.

“This is the great July 23, 1952 Revolution. It was indeed a pure Egyptian Arab revolution. Thus, all of us should pay tribute to this revolution as well as the ‘galaxy’ of free officers who led it. Egypt declared July 23 of each year as its National Day, thereby, emphasizing the importance of this revolution in embodying the Egyptian people’s struggle to protect national rights.”

“Significant blow the securitymen of Drugs Control General Department rendered to drug peddlers by confiscating a shipment of drugs considered the largest quantity of illicit pills recovered by anti-narcotics men, worth KD 25 million, confirms that Kuwait and her people are in safe hands and that citizens and expatriates enjoy peace and stability,” columnist Abdulrahman Al Awad wrote for Al Sabah daily.

“It is not strange for dedicated men led by the Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled and Customs officers to receive praise and acknowledgment from HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad for their sense of responsibility and total commitment to cleanse the country from the poisonous and destructive phenomenon.

“Certainly, Kuwait’s securitymen deserve praise of the people who know that thousands of our youths would be ruined — May God forbid — had the shipment found its way into the market. May God reward the efforts and sacrifice of our securitymen.”

“The ‘Pokémon Go’ game has invaded the world over the past few days. It is a virtual reality game that uses the camera of mobile phones and detects Pokémon characters on the maps using GPS on smartphones. The user is able to see the Pokémon characters move around him in the areas where the phone is located,” Najem Abdullah wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“Pokémon is an imaginary Japanese character. In Arabic, it is called ‘pocket monster’. It is nothing but a small monster that is sweet and gentle at the same time. We can use this dangerous game in reality to hunt down those with wide conscience and those with narrow minds who have damaged the present and invaded the future.

“In Kuwait, a player can find and hunt the country’s pocket monster and virtual Pokémon characters even in the room next to him or in a ministry or the Parliament building.

“It is an interesting game despite the dangers of playing the game while driving or by trespassing restricted areas. Let us direct our efforts in serving the country and people far away from partisan ideologies.”

“According to criminology experts, if the criminals cannot be identified, search for the beneficiaries,” Mubarak Mezyad Al-Moasherji wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The beneficiaries of the actions of DAESH are Iran and its mercenaries, Israel and the Syrian regime. The victims are the Sunnis in Iraq and Syria as well as the international image of Islam. Terrorism of DAESH has become the justification for attacking cities and displacing Sunnis and Arab Shiites who are replaced with Safawi Persians. This means the process is being carried out with the agreement of some Arab politicians and under the silence of others.

“It is not strange for us to hear from Abu Turab about the existence of coordination between DAESH, Iran, Israel and the Syrian regime. The statements of the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abbadi, following the attacks in Karada and Balad in Baghdad, highlighted the cooperation between the commentators of the explosions and the security authority that is affiliated to an Iran-based political group.

“Al-Abbadi said only countries have the destructive power of explosions and not terrorist groups. He then accepted the resignation of Minister of Interior and then referred some security commanders for retirement.

“The terror attacks of DAESH never touched Iran or Israel or even any areas under the control of the Syrian regime. Abu Turab has warned us that the current plan of Iran, which is presently eating up Iraq and Syria, is to eventually swallow the Gulf countries. Therefore, we need to be alert and stay united to confront any evil attempts by Iran against us.”

“The first thing I said when my friend informed me about the proclamation of coup plotters was — If the coup plotters succeed in controlling all state institutions, then a civil war is inevitable,” Mohammad Al-Wushaehi wrote for Aljarida daily.

“I said this based on my knowledge of characteristics of Turks who are volatile, stubborn, haughty and uneasy to tame. Due to this, it would have been extensively bloody and the massacres would have gone beyond the imagination of horror movie producers. The roads would have been littered with corpses. The masses would have had the last laugh but the price would be seas of blood.

“I said so based on consideration of the fact that the coup plotters were from the military, as rumored. It was later revealed that they were only a handful of military officers. They clashed with the military itself as well as the police, intelligence officers and the masses that changed the calculation. Few days ago shortly after the bombing of Ataturk International Airport, I had said that Turkish are great in action but not in talks.”

“The coup d’état planned by a section of the Turkish Army was destined to fail. In fact, the failure became obvious just a few hours after the declaration and their ring leaders were quickly rounded up,” Sultan Al-Khalaf wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“This is different from the previous coups that had succeeded in toppling governments, and resulted in military officers forming tyrannical governments. The Turkish masses was credited for foiling the coup attempt when they took to the streets to face the tanks of the coup plotters and declare that they support democracy and refuse the toppling of the government.

“This is a notable change witnessed in the history of modern Turkey and a proof of the increased awareness concerning the significance of democracy by the Turks. They realized that only democracy can guarantee a worthy standard of living for them and for the future of the incoming generations. They have displayed that oppressive military dictators can no longer turn back the wheel of country or dash their hopes and desires.”

“Are the raids, attacks, detentions, arrests and dismissal of employees from their jobs considered as internal affairs of Turkey or as public affairs that concern human beings everywhere due to their strangeness, atrocity and inhumanness,” Saleh Al-Shayji wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The Turkish incident has two parts — first is the failed military coup attempt that occurred two weeks ago which is an internal Turkish affairs, and the second is the repressive actions being taken by the government in a very cruel, humiliating and insulting manner, which is a public matter.

“Those who carried out the failed coup attempt are not criminals, burglars, molesters or rapists but they are Turkish citizens with a national vision that may disagree with that of the current regime. In addition, they are not beggars or loiters but they are top leaders of the army with distinguished ranks.

“Humiliating a human being is worse than murdering or mutilating him. The actions taken by Turkey are much more cruel and uglier than the crimes of DAESH.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb