“BY FALSELY claiming the Zionists want to protect their so-called Jewish heritage, it looks like the Israeli government is determined to annex and evolve as many as 150 archaeological, historical and religious sites in the City of Jerusalem,” columnist Adel Al-Qassar wrote for Al-Qabas daily Monday.

“However, to carry out and transform this historical forgery against the holy places in Jerusalem in a prelude for Judaizing the holy city of Jerusalem, Israel has initially earmarked $100 million for this purpose.
“Not just that, this Israeli project is actually aimed at Judaizing most holy places in Palestine and its symbols including the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and Belal Ben Rabah Mosque.

“The Israeli plan kicked off last Friday and was represented by an assault on the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. On that day, the Israeli troops threw a cordon around all outlets leading to the Al-Aqsa followed by clashes with the worshippers who were determined to encounter the Israeli attack with stones, chairs and branches of trees.
“This Israeli determination to forge and undermine the identity of the holy place in Palestine, is no longer confined to the Islamic holy place, but to the ancient archaeological and historical Christian holy sites including the Umm Al-Amad Church which is dated back to the Byzantine era.

“Consequently, we found thousands of demonstrators crowding the streets of occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip to launch an international intifada against the Israeli violations and measures against holy places in the Palestinian territories.
“In this context, we say all Arab and Muslim initiatives which have been propounded so far to deal peacefully with the Palestinian cause, have failed drastically and this can be mostly attributed to the Israeli arrogance and determination to kill the Palestinians, loot and destroy their properties and build illicit settlements on their territories.

“Such being the case, we wonder why the world and the so-called international organizations are standing idle in the face of the Israeli violations of international resolutions and covenants.
“All of us must realize that the world — peoples and organizations — will not sympathize with the Arab and Islamic rights and adopt specific attitudes against Israel, unless our peoples and organizations rise to the occasion and shoulder their responsibilities towards the rights of the Muslim nation, because we no longer attach hopes to Arab governments after a long history of humiliation, feebleness and capitulation.

Also:
“The Israeli violation against the Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque has not surprised us, but rather we were shocked by such an attitude which has been adopted by the Arab leaders in dealing with the relevant violation,” columnist Dr Hasan Abbas wrote for Al-Rai daily Monday.
“In other words, while the Israelis still violate the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque and kill the Arabs in the City of Jerusalem, the Arabs represented by their foreign ministers still bet on the Zionists and have even recently given Tel Aviv what they call a last chance to resume peaceful negotiations with the Palestinians.
“The question that still grips the minds of the Arabs is: Why the Arab leaders are still betting on peace accords with Israel. However, if some people claim that peace is an Israeli necessity, then we want to tell these people that this logic is baseless because the Israelis have proved over and over again that they don’t like peace and the repeated wars with the Arabs is the evidence to this effect.
“However, if the Israelis want to justify their wars on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of Palestine and Hezbollah of Lebanon because the latter has made no secret about its hostility towards Israel, then what about the moderate and peaceful Arabs? I think the Israeli wars are motivated by the arrogance of the Israeli leaders and the Arab setbacks and this is evident by the Israeli violation against the holy places in Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine, in addition to their illicit settlements in the West Bank.

“We hereby emphasize that we reject the Zionist practices against Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque in all forms and the Israeli policemen assaulting people in the mosque compound following last Friday prayer and their attacks on the worshippers,” columnist Ahmed Al-Sadhan wrote for Arrouiah daily Monday.
“We wonder how long we will remain silent in the face of the Zionist violations, their illegal practices and defilation of the Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is for Muslims the first Qibla and the Third Holy Mosque. In this case, we once again wonder, how the Israelis defiled the Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque which is situated in the heart of the Muslim world.
“Needless to say the Zionists do not understand any language except the language of force. Such being the case, we believe when this entity violated the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque, unfortunately it knew in advance the Arab and Islamic reaction would be the same — limited to issuing statements of condemnation and denouncement without any action.
“However, here we call for the founding of international front comprising members from major Muslim countries to request the UN Security Council to put pressure on Israel and force it to halt its repeated aggressions on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinians.
“Apart from the above, we suggest the Arab and Muslim countries put direct pressure on Israel, particularly those countries which have diplomatic relations with it such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.”

“In spite of the economic crisis in our sisterly Emirate of Dubai, which is attributed to its foreign debt, the non-oil exports of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) according to a report issued last Saturday by Wam, the Emirates News Agency, last year was $18 billion,” columnist and former MP Dr Ahmed Al-Duaij wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily Monday.
“However, although my expertise in the economic field is limited, it is needless to say the money earned by Dubai is significant for a country which is one of the major oil exporters in the world. Not just that, this development calls for deep thinking, particularly for us in Kuwait where the country’s budget mainly depends on petrodollars, let alone the Salaries and Wages Chapter which is still consuming much part of the budget.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t know if our government realizes the hazard of Kuwait’s economy solely depending on the petrodollars. I say it is high time to find alternative sources of income.
“Likewise, I don’t know which authority in the country must undertake this task to find the alternatives for the petrodollars. In other words, is it the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme Planning Council or the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) - we must remember the latter has no law or charge to govern. In the meantime, we wonder about the opinion of the Economics Department of the Kuwait University and the private economic bureaus in the country.
“Needless to say the oil sooner or later will dry up and this means we must use our oil revenues in a wise manner at a time when the demands of the citizens are constantly increasing.”

“I think this year’s National and Liberation day celebrations outdid all previous records in terms of injuries, deaths, disturbances and general chaos. The Ministry of Interior announced that 12 people lost their lives during the celebrations,” columnist Godah Al-Fares wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“Foam, crowds, molestations, traffic jams marked the celebrations while Kuwaiti families exhausted their budget in buying foam bottles.
“The Flag Square looked more like Amghara scrap yard with foam spraying and frivolous activities.  During the past, however, military tanks and vehicles were displayed here during the celebrations.  The first position in creating chaos and disorder, however, goes to the Ministry of Interior for holding the ‘In Kuwait’s Love’ festival during which it honored many actors and actresses. I don’t know what is the relation between these actors and Kuwait’s Liberation war.
“The Ministry of Information should have honored the families of martyrs and prisoners of war, in addition to people who sacrificed their lives for the country on the occasion. We should focus on Kuwaiti people’s sacrifices, national unity and patriotism during these celebrations.” 

“The Constitution has granted equal rights to men and women, but some MPs have appointed themselves the rulers of people and are giving orders as if they are the only people who know about religion in the country. These so-called defenders of Islam want Kuwait to be the way they want. They don’t know that each person is different and all of them are free to do whatever they want as long as they don’t impinge on other people’s freedom,” columnist Dr Kafya Ramadan wrote for Al-Nahar daily.
“Despite the fact that women have entered the Parliament and have proven themselves in all fields, some people are still refusing to allow women compete in international sports events.
“Some people had earlier tried to create trouble when two female MPs refused to wear the veil, but the Constitutional Court issued a decision in the women’s favor and said the Constitution grants them personal freedom.
“Now the Negative Phenomena Committee in the Parliament is opposing Kuwaiti women’s participation in international sports, as if we are the only Muslim country which knows about religion. It is a well known fact that many Muslim women from Muslim and non-Muslim countries participate in international sports.”

“HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad has proved that he belongs to the quiet political school and it helped him deal effectively with all his political and personal adversaries,” columnist Ahmad Bin Fahd wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“Although initially some individuals mistook his calmness for weakness and indecisiveness, he proved them wrong.
“Sheikh Nasser is not an angel to be sinless, but he is a victim of political plots and faced more troubles than any of his political adversaries.
“The Prime Minister proved once again that he is a man of justice by calmly resorting to courts when he felt wronged by some individuals. It is one more example of his wisdom and calm nature.”

“On Dec 28, 2008, the Court of Appeals issued a historical sentence in favor of the Teaching Staff Society at Kuwait University, confirming its legality. By virtue of another decision issued by Court of Cassation, all civil societies, including political parties became legal as long as they don’t violate the basic principles of Public Civil Law,” columnist Dr Ghanim Al-Najar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“In Kuwait, there are three civil authorities that are never subjected to the law of Public Utilities Association, but they are  established authorities. The oldest one is the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, followed by National Union for Kuwait’s Students and Teaching Staff Society at Kuwait University. The Chamber was established in 1959 and a bylaw organizing its work structure was published in the official gazette. The students union was established in 1964 and has a constitution to control its work. The Constitution was published in official gazette. Lastly, the teaching society was established in 1983. It is remarkable that all three authorities obtain government subsidies and facilities like land for headquarters and offices.”

“New York Times recently carried a report in which it said the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia is leading a social revolution to bring in more freedoms and cultural, social and political openness. Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the kingdom is on its way to ‘liberation’,” columnist Dr Ali Al-Za’bi wrote for Awan daily.
 “Iran is witnessing socio-political revolution on the streets. Its media and various councils are trying to strengthen the concept of freedom and democracy. They are also demanding progress and call for legislating laws that are aimed at granting more freedoms.
“Iraq is witnessing democratic, free and fair elections. There is no sound of sectarianism in these elections.
“After reading Dr Mohammad Al-Rumaihi’s article ‘Democrats against Freedoms,’ I want to ask him one question: Do we have real democratic MPs? How can they be called democratic when they got elected on sectarian and tribal basis?”

“MP Dr Faisal Al-Muslim submitted a parliamentary query on Sunday and with that it became clear that majority of MPs are not supporting the grilling against Minister of Information and Oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah, as falsely claimed. The question was on a very simple matter and it indicates that other questions in the grilling are of similar nature. Al-Abdullah can easily answer such questions,” columnist Abu Khalid wrote for Al-Hurriya daily.
“Though grilling delays development process and is a waste of time for ministers, it helps in attaining the goal to get answers on certain issues.”

“Some of the angles of the grilling against Minister of Information and Oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah focus on national unity. A TV channel had earlier aired an interview in which sensitive issues were discussed and it created an uproar in the country, besides fanning sectarianism and tribalism. The channel can be called highly irresponsible because it allowed someone to insult a large community in the country,” columnist Hawas Al-Shammari wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“Al-Abdullah, as head of the information sector in the country, should be held accountable for the mistakes of the channel, because his administration failed to monitor the programs that are aired.” 

“The level of worry and suspense in the Gulf region concerning the Iranian nuclear file does not require further escalation of pending issues among the GCC nations and Iran at the moment, owing to its sensitive nature, Abdul-Hadi Al-Saleh wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“This observation is necessary to disallow the US from capitalizing on the issue to increase sanctions and pressure against Iran, which could also lead the international community to sanction Tehran. Among the unnecessary face-off is the naming of the Gulf as Persian or Arabian.
“Also, Iran was wrong to have publicized the issue based on an individual incident taking place with a foreign flight attendant. Some people have exploited the episode to spur bitter political or racial ambitions.
“The name “Islamic Gulf” is exclusively in support of pure Islamic principle against those who are trying to confuse the entire world by depicting Islam as pro-terrorism and violence against innocent people and civilization. It is clear the name will also face international campaigns similar to the veil and minarets”.

“Lately our media is keen on using a terminology the Zionist media has deliberately propagated, which the media innocently inculcated through Jewish Arab journalists, Dr Jalal Mohammad Al-Rashid wrote for Al-Dar daily.
“Jewish Arabs and other Arabs who follow them unconsciously use the term “Israel and Palestinians”, which is wrong in the real sense. The continuous use of Israel indirectly means recognition of a country known as Israel, which millions of Arabs, and Muslims- including myself, do not recognize. Yes, it is on ground but its existence is illegal as it forcefully occupied the territories of other people.
“Therefore, the true picture of the reality has been overturned 100 percent. The Arab media and diplomats have recognized the usurpers who occupied Arab territories in Palestine as Israel. We also understand that Arabs were the habitants of Palestine, which was a part of the Arab nations, until around the middle of the last century. We demand an official media correction with the use of the terms”.

“The Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Kuwait is interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq. How does this happen? He claimed that notable personalities provide huge funds for electoral activities, while refusing to cancel the compensations in Article 17 of the UN sanctions, Dr Bassam Al-Shatti wrote for Alam Al-Yawm daily.
“This is happening after Kuwait allowed its territories to be used to depose Saddam, exposing citizens and expatriates to the danger of missiles. Kuwait has been supporting her Iraqi brothers with medicine, food and drink, in order to ensure they make decent living. Kuwait treated many Iraqis who were victims of the Saddam regime. Affected farmers were compensated, while shelters were built when Kuwait realized some of them lost immensely to the border demarcation.
“Surprisingly, Al-Maliki claimed all parties and candidates got foreign aid except for his party and himself. This is right because half of the estimated $63 billion proceeds from oil and gas are not accountable for, by lawmakers, ministers, and tribal heads, in addition to military leaders who supervise them. Nouri Al-Maliki has also become one of the 200 richest personalities in the world!”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb