‘Arabs in quandary, crisis stays’

‘Israel has upper hand in ME issue’

“POST 1948/1949 war between some Arab countries and the Zionist gangs, the war led to the ordeal of Palestine which erupted following the decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from Palestinian territories based on the UN Resolution No. 181 to divide Palestine between the Palestinians and the Jews, provided Jerusalem and Bethlehem remain under international guardianship,” columnist and former Director of Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL)

wrote for daily Tuesday. “In spite of the defeat inflicted on the Arab nations by the Zionist gangs, the Arab political arena was embroiled in argument. The political powers topped by the nationalists insisted that the Arabs must hasten to liberate entire Palestine, while the Arab Communist and the Leftist parties, suggested the Arabs should accept the UN Resolution No. 181 to at least protect the remaining part of Palestine instead of losing it.

“In the wake the attitude propounded by the Communist and the Leftist parties, the Arab nationalists accused the former of betrayal although some of the Communist parties in the Arab countries neighboring Palestine had turned down the division of Palestine and the UN resolution in question. However, the then war between the Arabs and the Israeli militias dragged on until 1949.

“As a matter of fact, persistent Arab/Israeli conflict resulted in the Palestinians losing the remaining part of Palestine through the six-day war that erupted between the two parties on June 5, 1967 during which the Arab countries were defeated by the fostering Israeli might. Moreover, the Arab/Israeli struggle still persists about seventy years on.

“Throughout this struggle, the Palestinians have suffered from a lot of tragedies -- killing, destruction, arrests and illegal constructions for Jewish settlers throughout Palestine to such an extent the Palestinians at the moment live on a small part of their land.

“Anyway, following the Palestinian tragedy, many conferences were held in vain to settle the dispute between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

“Not just that, this period witnessed a Palestinian/ Palestinian struggle between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the Palestinian parties and movements who are still turning down the Israeli existence on the Palestinian territories.

“This happens at a time when Israel continues to swallow Palestinian land in a slow and steady manner and no solution for the struggle can be seen.

“Not only that, the Arab countries have been transformed into the weakest party in the regional equation, while the Israeli influence is steadily enhancing by virtue of the Hebrew state’s influence on the United State of America and the Western countries at large.

“This has resulted in Israel paying no attention to international resolutions which call for settling the Palestinian cause. Moreover, Israel continues to violate the human rights of Palestinian Arabs.

“During the Arab Summit which was held recently in the Dead Sea area of Jordan, the Arab leaders have announced in a communiqué that they support reconciliation between the Arabs and Israel, provided the latter withdraws from Arab territories that were occupied by Israel in 1967.

“This happened although the Eighth Leftist Arab Gathering which was held recently in Tunisia to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Palestinian Resistance against Zionism, called for the liberation of entire Palestine.

“In the meantime, the Palestinians held celebrations to mark the 41st anniversary of Land Day by organizing popular demonstrations that resulted in confrontations with the Israeli troops.

“Meanwhile, we say that the Al-Rai daily in its March 31 issue this month had published a news report indicating the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin saying the relationship of his country with the Arabs and the Islamic world is steadily growing.

“The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel shall go ahead in building more settlements in the Palestinian territories in addition to Judaizing the City of Jerusalem and remaining parts of Palestine.

“Given the above, we wonder, can the decision adopted by the recent Arab Summit seek more realistic ground under the current regional and international complicated circumstances? What about the selfdetermination of the Palestinians?

“And what about the Arab/Arab conflicts which have torn apart this part of the world in compliance with the American project with the aim of building the new Middle East? Does Palestine represent the main Arab cause or is it high time for the Arabs to ignore the sufferings of the Palestinian Arabs?”

Al-Rujaib

“Many regional and international statements and attitudes actually coincided with the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in general and the situations in Syria in particular under some field indications which signify that the terrorist groups in general and the Islamic State (IS) or the so-called ‘DAESH’ in both Iraq and Syria in particular are on the verge of final defeat,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University Political Science Department and former MP

wrote for daily Tuesday. “During the Arab Summit which was held recently in Jordan, HH the Amir described the ‘Arab Spring’ as an ‘Arab Illusion’ because the ‘spring’ has succeeded in toppling the regimes in all countries except Syria.

“Not just that, it looks like people who were betting to bring down the regime in Syria have vanished in thin air and this is applicable to the international equation which was led by the US.

“Having said that, Europe is currently busy in its ‘internal affairs’ and the politicians who were involved in the Syrian crisis topped by the incumbent French administration, are likely to be defeated in the forthcoming elections.

“In this context, we say the statements which have been attributed to the US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson who chose Ankara as a launch pad to issue his statements in question in addition to the statements issued by the US permanent envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley show the downfall of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad is no longer on Washington’s agenda. They hinted the future of Assad will be determined by the people of Syria.

“To coincide with the above statements, however, Turkey has recently declared that its military operations or the so-called ‘Euphrates Shield’ in North Syria has ended and this means the Syrian Kurds will dominate the conflict zone in that part of Syria.

“But the most significant aspect in this context is represented by a fact that the Syrian opposition parties which called on the Syrian President to quit as a precondition for holding the Geneva negotiations have seemingly turned their backs on their demand and this is a dramatic change we see when dealing with the Syrian crisis. This will favor the incumbent Syrian government.”

“A strange phenomenon has emerged lately in the National Assembly wherein an MP or a parliamentary committee proposes to prepare a long-term plan or strategy for reform,” wrote for daily.

“In view of the current scenario in administration of the government, I find it very dangerous for the Parliament to make such calls because the mandate of the Parliament is to monitor and issue legislation, not planning.

“We have become accustomed to hearing about proposals from the Parliament such as for fixing the lopsided population structure, transforming Kuwait Airways Corporation into a joint stock company, separating applied education from training, privatization of sports and the most recent being the cancellation of Public Authority for Transportation.

“I will not rule out the issuance of the decision by the Council of Ministers to separate applied education from training without conducting real studies which will indicate the results expected from such a separation and the benefits it will provide the labor market. I am not blaming the MPs either, but the problem lies in the lack of a state plan in most of the ministries and lack of real studies that can help the ministries take suitable decisions at suitable times.

“All the abovementioned issues I highlighted require professionals and experts in the concerned field for preparing strategic long-term plans with crystal clear objectives so that everyone is aware of the direction we are moving in and how far we are in achieving them.”

“Hamad International Airport in Qatar has become a world landmark in terms of design, space and advanced services,” wrote for daily.

“Following the application of a new security measures and developed aviation services, the airport will soon see implementation of electronic system for transfer procedures of all passengers from the gate until the plane without any human intervention.

“According to an official statement issued by the airport operations sector, 60 smart machines have been readied to be place at the entrances and 12 others for luggage. New tenders are in the process for increasing the number of smart machines.

“The aforementioned developmental renaissance in Qatar cannot be compared with Kuwait because such a comparison will be frustrating. However, the most important matter is to know the cause for the recession experienced by Kuwait while other GCC countries have been progressing, especially since Kuwait was in top for many years. The recession of Kuwait in vital fields such as development, health and educational services, communications, land and air borders, etc has raised confusion, especially since the obstacles are not financial in nature.”

“The Arab region is teeming with initiatives that are aimed at developing the civil society and women’s rights,” wrote for

daily. “Such initiatives are important, as they represent the right direction away from the revolutions that were proven to be incapable of defeating dictatorial regimes after the latter managed to get revived and rule again. We went back to the first box where dictatorial regimes are controlling everything.

“The complex problem of dictatorial regimes lies in their belief that they are capable of offering solutions to every problem whether political, cultural or economic. This is clear when we see that the missions are assigned to ignorant and unprofessional people.

“In order to ensure success of the abovementioned initiatives in rectifying the catastrophes caused by dictators, we need to pay attention to the terms we use. In the struggle for enabling women to obtain their rights, the term of women’s rights should be replaced by partnership. This actually has happened in Kuwait and has resulted in good scores. However, the parliamentary experience was not encouraging, especially in the context of multimillion-dinar deposits and some women who presented bad examples in the issue of corruption.

“We also need to differentiate between participation and partnership. Participation does not include equality but the partnership guarantees it. The role of women in the political field is really distinguished due to their special nature, specialization and experiences. The special interests of women enable them to handle specific issues. Women’s political participation helps in enhancing social peace which is essential in our Arab societies.”

“Dr Mohammad Al-Sabah, former minister of Foreign Affairs and son of the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, is considered as one of the cleanest ministers among all Kuwaiti governments. He had resigned after realizing that the political atmosphere is polluted,” wrote for daily.

“Two days back during his participation in a lecture at Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, Dr AlSabah urged Iran to stop interfering in the affairs of its Arab neighbors and tampering with their social fabric. His speech was based on the truth and did not need any testimonies.

“I think his vision is long-term. I would like to say to Dr Al-Sabah — Look at the status of Kuwait. Look at the stance taken by the authority concerning what is happening and its support for those who carry poisonous knife. Ignore Iran because it will not listen to you and it will continue to pursue its goals. Direct your speech to the Kuwaiti people.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb