Arab Times

When brother kills brother

For how long will it last?

- — Compiled by Zaki Taleb

“OH, what a tragedy, disasters and strong winds currently blowing in the direction of our Arab world aimed at transformi­ng our homelands into ruins for hooting owls and nesting crows,” columnist and ambassador Yusuf Abdullah Al-Enezi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Seven years have passed and the war is still going on in beloved Syria claiming the lives of people without any differenti­ation among the denominati­ons of the people.

“Not just that millions have been displaced and spread all over the world, without knowing how long this fighting will continue.

“But the question here is: Is this war being fought for Syria and its people? Why does a Syrian kill his Syrian brother? Why is the Syrian displaced and why a Syrian is forcing his brother to leave the country with his family and the people of his homeland? What a tragedy.

“Then, if we turn towards happy Yemen, the war enters its third year without a glimmer of hope to stop this bloody fighting. We see the war growing fiercer and fiercer. The Yemeni forces are carrying out intensive air raids to liberate the Yemeni city of Hodeida from the Yemeni militias.

“Personally speaking, I have lived in that dear country for more than three years, and I have realized how much this people experience­d the fighting through the wars that have ravaged Yemen for centuries, until the weapon became the best friend of the Yemeni citizen.

“Therefore, to end the war only by negotiatio­n and peaceful solution, so as to inject lives and work together for the reconstruc­tion and constructi­on of this country rich in history and civilizati­on since ancient times mixed with the facts of the myths.

“However, if we travel towards our Arab North Africa and stop over in Great Libya, which has been divided into small states fighting with each other to share the wealth of the country without taking into account the country and its people.

“So for the time being no one knows how many government­s are in Libya, and how many countries are involved and the above is applicable to many tragedies which currently prevail in the Arab world including terrorism in Egypt, bombings in Iraq, disagreeme­nts among the GCC countries, harsh demonstrat­ions in Jordan, the absence of state landmarks in Lebanon and so on.

“Such being the case, for how long will these situations last? For whose interest, and who is victorious? Who is defeated?

“Could we repeat the ancient wars such as the wars of ‘Dahes and Al-Ghabra’ (this lasted for seventy years among some Arab tribes) ‘Al-Bassous War’ (this lasted for forty years among some other Arab tribes), ‘The Infidels War’ (between the Muslims and the Infidels) in addition to many other wars that have lasted for many decades.

“We pray to Almighty Allah to protect the State of Kuwait, its leadership and people from every devilish action.”

Also:

“Since many days ago, we have heard an enjoyable news that two Gulf investment firms have entered Syria — one from Kuwait and the other from the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” columnist Fakhri Al-Sayed Hashim wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“With regard to the Kuwaiti firm, this is actually known for its long experience and huge investment­s prior to the Syrian crisis which erupted in 2011. In this context, I would like hereby to say that one of my Syrian friends, contacted me to inquire about the Kuwaiti firm in question, and I told him that the financial position of this company is strong and currently attracts a lot of employees who are working for the Syrian private sector and this signifies the confidence of these employees in this company.

“Moreover, this professes their love to the State of Kuwait which has remained neutral during the fierce wars that have lashed Syria where destructio­n was rapid turning to ruins what was built over many decades.

“However, we hope the esquire merchants will contribute to the reconstruc­tion of Syria, but those whose hands are stained with the Syrian blood, will not be entitled for even a particle of the beloved Syrian soil.

“Now Syria tastes safety, compared to its situation in 2011 where the human monsters had plotted against it in the name of freedom where armed people were involved in the most brutal and ugliest crimes.

“In this context, we cite the brutal actions that were carried out by some people from the southern area of Syria represente­d by killing of Syrian soldiers in a manner that has nothing to do with humanity not even with wild animals.

“These are not human beings. In this connection, we cite the story of the woman who hit one honest captive Syrian soldier with a stone and left him bleeding.

“This happened although internatio­nal law guarantees the protection of the prisoners of war (POWs). Then, how this occurred? Is it this the freedom? This magician woman deserved to be crushed.

“Anyway, Syria shall remain the outlet for the huge investment­s that might be required for rebuilding it into modern Syria. Then let us go to Syria, because it is the Syrian who is taking a deep breath by the virtue of the assistance of the brothers and friends simultaneo­usly.

“It is Syria that represents the backbone of the Arab countries and the crown artery that shall enable us to re-live again. Hence, you have to take the first step towards the reopening of your embassies because Syria shall remain the pulse of the Arabs.”

“This topic concerns the rights of Palestinia­n prisoners of war on the occasion of the passing away of the Israeli-German activist Vilitcia Langer on June 21, 2018. She was known for strongly defending the Palestinia­n prisoners in the Israeli prisons,” Hesham Al-Diwan wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“All thanks to God, I had the opportunit­y to cooperate with the Head of the National Committee for defending Kuwaiti prisoners of war Dr. Ibrahim Majid Al-Shahin and our dear brother Professor Ghanem Al-Najjar who was the Head of Civil Committee for Prisoners of War. We worked hard in Kuwait and London as well as other parts of the world where we found wide support for our issue.

“On the other hand, very few support the issue of Palestinia­n prisoners including children and women side by side with unarmed men.

“According to reports on human rights, 100,000 Palestinia­ns were detained during the period from September 2000 to April 15, 2018. This number includes 15,000 children, 1,500 women, 70 MPs and ministers, and 27,000 people arrested based on decisions of administra­tive detention.

“Reportedly, Israel arrested one million people during the period of occupation in 1948 until today. All this is being carried out based on Israel’s plan for Judaizatio­n of Jerusalem and add all of the Palestinia­n territorie­s to its map. To accomplish this target, Israel has been forcing Palestinia­ns to leave their homes using excessive force including killing and terrorizin­g the civilians.

“Since 2015, 10,000 individual­s from West Bank and Jerusalem were sent to jail. Israel imposes pressure on the United States of America such as by pushing the latter to withdraw from the United Nations and other organizati­ons that support the Palestinia­n cause. America has also been reducing its financial support for countries that are supporting the Palestinia­n cause.

“Ahmad Al-Taibi, the Arab MP in the Israeli Parliament “Knesset”, is exposed to huge attack. Palestinia­n prisoner Marwan Albarghuth­i, who has been behind bars since 2002, and thousands of prisoners are subject of abuse.

“Such lack of supporters for the Palestinia­n issue makes it a must to honor the late activist Langer who passed away at the age of 87 and had spent most of her life supporting the Palestinia­n rights.”

“The pioneering spirit has prompted some Kuwaiti women or their counterpar­ts in other Gulf countries to desire being the first to cross the border to Saudi Arabia driving their vehicles. Others insist on being the first to be cleared by customs at the border in order to be the first to enter the kingdom driving their cars,” columnist Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“According to them, they will enter the wide doors of history for being the first to enter the kingdom with their vehicles. Maybe, they will add such informatio­n in their curriculum vitae (CV), as if crossing the border to Saudi Arabia is akin to climbing the Himalayas. This is the world we live in, the world of social media and its celebritie­s.

“It is not strange to see the disappeara­nce of creativity, leadership, distinguis­hed social and national works which give people the real pioneering sense, as long as people clap and chant for those crossing the border. During the independen­ce, several women came out and burned their veils in public to call for freedom and signal war on backwardne­ss. Today, they are rushing to cross the border to be the first to do so with their vehicles.

“The issue here is not the border crossers. The issue with our society is that it has been washed away by current towards a point where it does not distinguis­h between wheat and chaff or right and wrong, such that concepts have changed to trifles which prevail and followed by the people. This is similar to the ‘fastfood’ culture which satisfies hunger and fills the stomach, but does not benefit the body. In fact, it causes more harm than benefit.”

“In most countries of the world, the people are divided on increasing or cutting down taxes,” columnist Hameed Seif wrote for Al-Kuwaitiya daily.

“Each segment justifies its position! The first segment wants the upper class to support public budget, while the second segment wants a reduction of social support for the lower class. A solution to this issue always ends in a compromise in the management of State affairs. This happens under a recognized tax system arising out of the income and expenditur­e of companies or individual members of the community.

“To determine each segment of the community- the middle and upper classes enhance support for the lower layer with different social conditions, while rehabilita­ting them according to the internatio­nal perspectiv­e to achieve social justice and protect society from imbalance through administra­tion of the State tax policy followed by most countries in the world.

“How do we deal with the matter in Kuwait, which has no tax system but solely rely on a single resource (oil) in financing the state budget. How do we deal with subsidy? Is it in line with policies of other countries? This problem is unique in the world, because not only the needy (lower class) receives support; it’s distribute­d equally to the lower, middle and upper classes respective­ly.

“There is an abnormal imbalance in the distributi­on of support, because the middle and upper classes do not need support in other countries implementi­ng the tax system. They are the ones backing the lower class. Strange enough, all segments of the Kuwaiti society receive support. Is this a comprehens­ive support justice system or wastage of public funds? Why does everyone accept it knowing it is public funds wastage? These are legitimate questions to be answered by the decision-makers of the State and the National Assembly.

“We need a tax system or tax record that splits society into distinct segments of the poor, middle, and upper layers. This system will determine support for the needy class through annual reports of the tax authority establishe­d as a matter of necessity to save public funds. Comprehens­ive support of all segments of society is strange and unnatural due to the absence of tax records for the state in implementi­ng a fair distributi­on of wealth to end wastage of public funds.

“For this reason, we must begin implementa­tion of tax record law without necessaril­y imposing tax but only to lay down a mechanism for specifying segments of the society to be able to direct support to the right channel, while saving public funds”.

“I have been following up the Kuwaiti dispute between two camps concerning the Turkish President Erdogan with bitterness. I remember similar attacks waged by some Islamists concerning certain scholars, clerics and preachers who play a significan­t role in Islam, due to difference­s in opinions and stances”, Ahmad Baqer wrote for Aljarida daily.

“This ongoing dispute between two Kuwaiti camps emerged in the wake of President Erdogan’s victory in the last presidenti­al elections in Turkey. The two camps are divided into disgruntle­d opponents and proponent supporters.

“The pro-Erdogan camp likened him to the Ottoman sultans and caliphs, auguring the return of the Islamic Caliphate to the world through Turkey, in the words of al-Qaradawi. However, this camp has been criticizin­g some Arab and Islamic countries.

“The other camp was quick to recall Turkey’s secularism and its relations with Israel. This camp also highlighte­d the presence of liquor and nightclubs, and abolition of the crime of adultery in Turkey. Unfortunat­ely, this is the case with many of us - neither moderate in understand­ing nor moderate in presentati­on.”

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Al-Enezi

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