‘Reform vital to forge unity’

‘Govt must keep eye on sectarianism’

“THE threats which have been detected recently by the Kuwaiti security forces coming from the Islamic State (IS) or the so-called DAESH, the group that is planning to carry out terrorist operations against the Kuwaiti Husseiniyas and some vital installations should actually raise among us the sense of caution,” columnist and former director of the Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for

Al-Rai daily. “We suggest the concerned authorities in the country must carefully study and realize the hazards of sectarian sedition which destabilizes the security and stability of the country and tears apart the social fabric in our community.

“It is needless to say we shall not be safe unless we think seriously about the danger, how to ward if off and defend Kuwait, because the method adopted by the Kuwaiti authorities will not provide sound solutions to our problems.

“Encountering hazards cannot be realized by blaming democracy and making haste to dissolve the Parliament or by suspending the country’s Constitution in a prelude to impose more restrictions on the freedoms as it happened in 1976 and 1986.

“It is common knowledge that the dissolution of the then parliaments and suspension of the Constitution had actually weakened the internal front and the local robust fort was transformed into a kind of fragile instrument, no more than an egg shell.

“As a matter of fact we cannot confront the dangers if the people don’t play their role in the decisionmaking process and this cannot be achieved in the absence of vital political action or by imposing press censorship or by putting the citizens under the security microscope.

“It is common knowledge that the above only increased the avarices of the dictator Saddam Hussein against the State of Kuwait, because he read the message wrong and miscalculated the unique steadfastness of the citizens which came in the form of armed resistance and civil rebellion during the invasion and occupation of the country.

“Saddam at that time failed drastically to find a single Kuwaiti to collaborate with his invading and occupying forces because some Kuwaitis preferred to embrace martyrdom instead of committing treason against their homeland.

“Now we see some Kuwaitis who unfortunately embrace the racist tendencies intentionally or unintentionally call for the dissolution of the National Assembly and eventually the suspension of the Constitution, because they are under the impression that all the troubles brew from the National Assembly and is the reason for the current escalation and crisis.

“However, we would like to point out here that may be the incumbent National Assembly has failed to rise to the aspirations of the Kuwaitis, particularly under the current electoral system of ‘one man one vote’, but certainly the solution to this problem cannot be realized by suspending the most significant arm in the hands of the people to achieve the targeted sustainable development, reinforcing the internal front giving the citizens the luxury of democracy.

“In this connection, we say although the application of the Constitution is still in its low level, it will certainly remain the safe harbor for every citizen.

“It is needless to say, that the current security measures are inappropriate, rather we say they are necessary and is one of the most significant weapons to encounter both the internal and external threats that may face the country.

“However, these measures are insufficient, because they should coincide with the necessary steps to provide solution to deal with the current political crisis for the latter has deepened during the recent years.

“Apart from the above, we suggest that the necessary actions to boost the freedoms should be taken in addition to issuing a blanket amnesty for all prisoners of opinion in addition to restoring the citizenship of all the opposition members who have their nationalities revoked and give boost to the democratic process in the country to make it complete.

“Apart from the above, we call for reforms in the country’s educational system to prevent the growth of ex-communication and fanatic ideology.”

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Al-Rujaib

“The Islamic State (IS) organization has claimed responsibility for the two deadly explosions at the two churches in Egypt,” columnist

wrote for daily. “Not just that, the organization has issued a statement vowing to carry out more attacks against the Egyptian Christians. The two explosions happened in the Saint George’s Church in Tanta and Saint Mark’s Church in Alexandria.

“It is needless to say the two above operations represent the brutality of the terrorists — the operations that claimed the lives of forty-four Egyptians citizens and left behind a trail 126 injured — with 27 killed and 78 injured in Tanta and the rest in Alexandria.

“Meanwhile, the concerned authorities in Egypt declared a state of mourning for three days. President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi ordered the deployment of Army to assist the police to protect the churches and vital government installations and buildings.

“Not just that, el-Sisi also imposed a state of emergency for three months pursuant to valid legal and constitutional procedures endorsed by the government and the Parliament.

“However, the idea of surmounting terrorism looks impossible because the world still witnesses the appearance of new groups sympathizing with the alQaeda network. These groups still have some relations with certain Islamic countries and it is difficult for these groups to sever ties with these countries.

“Meanwhile, we have observed that the relevant organizations allege that their terrorist operations in the relevant countries are aimed at subverting security and stability in the name of protecting the Islamic basics, ignoring the fact that their misguided and terrorist thought has nothing to do with Islam.

“For his part, the expert in fighting terrorist organizations Richard Barit on the BBC Arabic program called ‘Without Restrictions’ says those who have embraced Islam, the new Muslims mostly carry out the terrorist operations and this can be attributed to the fact that they know nothing about the essence of their new religion, because they are not educated on the culture of this religion and have never lived in any Muslim country.”

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in its Article 1, states that we are all born free and equal, we all have our own thoughts and ideas, and we should all be treated in the same way,”

Dr Bader Al-Daihani wrote for Aljarida daily. “In the same context, Article 29 of our Constitution states that all people are equal in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction to race, origin, language, or religion.

“In consideration of the diversity and differences in culture, race and faith and religion in the nature of humanity, developed countries went on to pass laws that prohibit racism. They created general policies that encourage national integration for different societal components under the umbrella of national identity and equal constitutional citizenry in public rights and duties.

“However, despite the great achievement of humanity in combating racism and curbing its rhetoric, racism is still present in those with psychological issues that make them think they are the best compared to others because of subjective reasons like color, gender, race, language, wealth, seniority, religion, name and living area.

“In addition, racism usually emerges during capitalist economic crisis whereby the extremists use racist rhetoric in their speeches and slogans to titillate the public and engage them in trivial issues without value while diverting their attention from the real problems.

“Though it has limited effect when confined to only a few people, it becomes a big public problem that threatens the fabric of the society or country when it transforms from individual inclination and isolates rejected ineffective speech to general public behavior or when it becomes institutional.”

“Kuwait Airways has been battling difficulties, accumulated losses and low performance over the past three decades, which put the company at the bottom among the aviation companies- including new ones,” Professor

wrote for daily. “Many efforts have been made to put Kuwait Airways back on right, and the most notable of such efforts frustrates all attempts to change its identity as the national carrier linked with the passion of Kuwaitis. They really want Kuwait Airways to remain as a symbol of Kuwaiti sovereignty and fly high in the sky against all odds of conspiracy.

“This is an expression of the commitment of generations in protecting the national carrier against corrupt personalities and their leaders who try hard to sell the country but ‘sorry, Kuwait is not for sale’. The era of trading the country and dividing its institutions has come to an end.

“The frontline players this time around are agents of the political leaders, lawmakers and opportunists who have organized and positioned themselves by assigning roles to individual groups and enacted legislation to sell the country under different images and attractive slogans that punishes the country. This includes privatization law, free trade zone law, islands law upgrade, privatization of Kuwait Airways and many others.”

“In the early hours of Friday, April 7, we witnessed a new act in the Syrian tragedy represented by the American air strike that targeted an airport in Syria in response to the recent attack by Bashar Al-Assad using chemical weapons against innocent people in Khan Sheikhoun,” wrote for daily.

“Long before the recent chemical attack, the Syrians suffered a lot. Each day witnessed the massacre of tens of innocent people through air strikes launched by Russia and Al-Assad, while the entire world watched silently.

“The American President Donald Trump last week said he is not in support of changing the Bashar Al-Assad regime. This made the latter feel more protected, after which he committed his most severe crime using chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhoun from Al-Shuairat Airport.

“Since the attack was different from the usual ones of Al-Assad, the world was ashamed about staying silent. Al-Assad continues to use chemical weapons against civilians even though he had allegedly handed over all his chemical weapons to the United Nations following the chemical attack in 2013 which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent people, most of who were children.

“Then America responded, directing its response to the same Al-Shuairat Airport. News came concerning the destruction of the airport, planes and the weapons’ stores. However, a couple of hours later, we discovered that the whole issue was nothing more than a ridiculous show. We discovered that, prior to the airstrike, America informed Russians to withdraw their soldiers and their military equipment from the site. The Russians then informed Al-Assad who also withdrew his soldiers and most of the planes and weapons. Eventually, it was just the empty building that was attacked.

“In reality, Bashar Al-Assad came out of the American airstrike stronger than he was before, which is because Russia pledged to supply him with an advanced system of air defense in addition to advanced anti-missile system. America is content with its fake attack and Russia announced its support for Bashar Al-Assad regime forever.

“Actually, the crimes of Bashar Al-Assad are continuing after the American attack with the same level of violence and may be even worse.

“On the day of the American airstrike, Bashar, with the support of the Russians, attacked some areas in the north of Syria which resulted in the death of more than 60 individuals.

“On Saturday and Sunday, the attacks of Bashar continued. So what then did the Syrians gain from the American airstrike other than further devastation and crimes?

“In conclusion, we need to stress that the Syrians are paying the price for this hypocrisy. They are the victims of the couldn’t care less Arab world where the leaders are taking advantage of this situation to convey a message to their people that this is the destiny of anyone who thinks about launching revolutions against dictatorship and injustice. We have witnessed a number of counter-revolutions that wasted the efforts exerted by the revolutions in some Arab countries.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb