Man who changed Egypt face

Revolutionist no more

“THE NATIONALISTIC leader Khaled Mohye elddine passed away a few days ago,” columnist and former Director of the Cultural Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) wrote for daily.

“He was one of the initiators of the Free Officers Movement in Egypt, which launched the revolution of July 23, 1952, which changed the face of Egypt, the Arab world and even the developing world.

“This revolution actually was the beginning of the Arab national liberation from colonialism, monarchy and feudalism. Moreover, this revolution inspired the oppressed people and those who were subjected to imperialistic rule to liberation.

“Mohye el-ddine was in office in the Egyptian army during the 1940s and 1950s. He was also a member in the then so- called ‘Hadato Movement’, the Egyptian Communist Party.

“For their part, the Free Officers were depending on this movement to print their pamphlets prior to the revolution. Moreover, Hadato members in the Free Officers Movement, had basically contributed to this revolution.

“In this context, Lieutenant Colonel Yusuf Siddique stormed the headquarters of the army’s chief of staff and arrested the leaders of the army, ahead of the basic date agreed upon to start the revolution. Siddique was actually one of Mohye el-ddine comrades in the then Egyptian Communist Party.

“However, the victory did not last for long, but he entered into a battle and differences with Jamal Abdul Nasser in 1954 about the need for the officers to return to their barracks following the success of the revolution to give room for the return of the civil democratic life to the country.

“But Mohye el-ddine suggestion did not satisfy Abdul Nasser and he sent Mohye el-ddine in exile to Switzerland. Not just that, Nasser forced the then first president of the Republic of Egypt Major-General Mohammad Najeeb to resign. (Mohye el-ddine was actually one of Najeeb’s supporters).

“But later on during the 1970s, Khaled Mohye el-ddine along with Kamal el-ddine Refaat (one of the free officers second group), had founded ‘The Socialist Gathering Party’ to support the socialist thought in Egypt and Mohye el-ddine never relinquished this thought in spite of the injustice that had befallen him, hence, Jamal Abdul Nasser described him as ‘The Red Major’ (in an apparent reference to the military rank of major which Mohye el-ddine was holding following July 23 Revolution).

“Meanwhile, motivated by his commitment to democracy Mohye el-ddine nominated himself to the parliamentary elections that were held in Egypt in 1957. Not just that, he was also a fierce opponent of the openness policy that was adopted by the Egyptian former president Anwar el-Sadat or the so called Al-Sadati Openness Policy.

“He was also one of the fiercest opponents of the peace accord that was concluded between Egypt and Israel during the reign of el-Sadat. He was also a strong defender of the rights of the laborers and the peasants as well of the other popular denominations.

“Apart from the above, it is Khaled Mohye elddine who proved his commitment to the partisan democracy and this was evident through his declaration that he will not persist in leading the Gathering Party to open the door for the second class members of the party.

“By doing so, Mohye el-ddine was unlike his successor Dr Refaat Al-Saeed who had attempted to amend the bye-law of the Gathering Party to enable him to remain chairman of the party for his lifetime and this actually was the difference between a principled leader and a leader who represents a worshipper of the chair.

“Meanwhile, we would like to say here that Khaled Mohye el-ddine was involved in the cultural life as well as with the popular struggle and this was evident through his position as the Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Dar Al-Akhbar Al-Youm” (Today News House).

“Apart from that, Mohye el-ddine, had established ‘Al-Ahali (The People) Newspaper’ — the organ of ‘The Gathering Party’, and he used this newspaper to promote the socialist thought and the directions of the Egyptian leftist groups.

“Furthermore, Mohye el-ddine played an international role and this was evident through his contribution to the founding of the International Peace Council (in Geneva) of which he was elected the Vice-President.

“Likewise, he was elected Chairman of the Egyptian Committee for Peace and this capacity he contributed to the peoples movement for the sake of liberation and resisting imperialistic wars which he saw as the struggle for peace in parallel with the struggles for democracy and social justice.”

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Al-Rujaib

“Last Sunday, the Lebanese chose their representatives in their national parliament, in an exercise that I personally see, and many like me, a process that has nothing to do with democracy, under sectarian and sectarian divisions and under the arms of a group of Lebanese people,” columnist

wrote for daily. “Anyway, we presume that the issue of the Lebanese elections is supposed to be an internal affair if the Lebanese did not extend their intervention beyond their borders from Syria to Yemen and from Iraq to the desert of Morocco.

“Some say that those who carry out negative interferences in the affairs of the Arab countries are a specific sect of the Lebanese. It is nonsense, because they are launching from the bases in Lebanon.

“If the state does not impose its sovereignty over all of its territory and the law is applicable to all its citizens, in accordance with international conventions, protocols and laws, or to discharge their responsibilities for the actions of their nationals on their territory.

“However, in general, the May 6 elections ended this argument. After Hezbollah and its allies won the parliamentary majority, this militia became the state, parliament, government and presidency.

“Certainly, the welfare and security of the Lebanese brothers are matters of interest to every Arab, and I am one of them, but the reality is different. Some of them are in the category of incursions to harm the Arab nation and their Muslim brethren; the last of which was represented by Hezbollah tampering with the stability of the Kingdom of Morocco by training the Polisario rebel group in the Moroccan desert.

“The party is still carrying out various sabotage operations in Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia, as well as in Kuwait through the Abdali Cell, members of which were arrested and tried. The Lebanese government refused to cooperate with Kuwait in addition to the major crime committed by the party in Syria.”

“We thought we were done with abnormal fatwas that have nothing to do with the doctrines of Islam. These fatwas, which had rewritten and reformulated Islamic religion, extended beyond clothing regarded unfit based on sacredness of places, such as ban on sitting on chairs, ban on women wearing high heels, ban on women driving, and so on,”

wrote for daily. “Recently, a clergyman emerged to declare a fatwa that allows transfer of Zakat to Islamic parties for funding their electoral campaigns both in universities and the National Assembly. This strange fatwa was met with resentment by rational religious people. Some of them felt embarrassed because this serious fatwa was released to the public after it was kept hidden for years, and after Muslim people in Kuwait started asking about their funds.

“Giving alms is a religious duty and one of the five pillars of Islam; otherwise political Islamic parties would have used alms for achieving their goals and agendas. They would have transferred the money paid by Muslims for poor people and used it for achieving their political interests and goals and transforming this country into a religious one, regardless of the Constitution and laws.”

“Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a charismatic, practicable, scientific, planning and leadership prowess personality. He’s not only endeared by Allah the Almighty to the people of Turkey and Muslim World but the entire world as an ideal political leader,”

wrote for daily. “He is renowned for strength and capability, and proven to be an effective personality who is likened to other notable global personalities such as Gandhi, George Washington and Nelson Mandela. Each of them has peculiar reasons that led them to fame, but none of them combines the amazing integrative personality of Erdogan.

“The admiration I have for the president is not about an individual feeling and cultural ideology. It is felt by several other admirers, including his staunchest enemies. I have told you about a wonderful personal experience I had in Turkey with the manager of a hotel in Istanbul to whom I confessed my admiration of Erdogan’s personality and she surprised me by declaring that she didn’t like him!

“The woman also surprised me when she declared she would vote for him again being a successful personality that has raised the rate of renaissance in Turkey. She added that Erdogan succeeded in developing and catapulting the country to the class of the world powers in terms of production, growth, culture and civilization. She said the president is working for Turkey but our ideologies are different.” She insisted on voting for him like several others who appreciate the practicality of that unique and capable man.”

“Kuwaiti society’s dependence on expatriates poses political, social and economic challenges. Therefore, investing in national human resources is one of the most important comprehensive developmental goals,” wrote for

daily. “Focus should be placed on national human resources in order to enable them to participate in developmental projects that will put the economy in the right path without fully depending on expatriates.

“It is paramount that all components of the Kuwaiti society are incorporated to contribute to comprehensive economic development of the country. Citizens should not be left aside as spectators especially at this juncture when the country is fully dependant on one source of income — oil, which sadly is non-renewable.”

“Salmiya area, especially Salem Al-Mubarak Street, was once regarded as the most beautiful area in Kuwait. It was the most preferred destination of Kuwaiti families and bachelors for shopping, driving around or walking,” wrote for

daily. “It was also the top destination of visitors and guests of Kuwait. It is said that a person who has not seen Salmiya has not seen Kuwait.

“No one in our generation can forget the beautiful memories of this place. These days, people are affected by the new developments, as the first part of the Salem Al-Mubarak Street have been closed and separated from the rest of the road from Salmiya Firefighting Department. This street is commercially dead where a shopper will not meet his needs. Shoppers find it difficult to enter this street due to the unreasonable traffic jam prevalent in this place.

“A visit to Salmiya has now become restricted for only visitors to restaurants, which is a waste of time. Who is responsible for all this? Does this beautiful place deserve all this?”

“Last week I visited Qatar after a span of ten years. I had first visited this place in 1973. At that time, Qatar was not as developed as the rest of the GCC countries. There were no hotels, and had just few main streets,” wrote for

daily. “In the 1960s, Doha was similar to Kuwait. It had only one small bridge, some old markets, humble utilities, uncomplicated traffic movement and normal buildings. It was surrounded by desert areas, and the international airport was just one single-storied building.

“During my visit last week, I was shocked by the massive change I witnessed. It was as though I was in Los Angeles or Spain with all the high-rise buildings, towers, villas and restaurants.

“We would like to congratulate Qatar for its prosperity and constructional renaissance that transformed it into an architectural miracle, with an airport that is more beautiful than any other airport in the world.”