“THE series of developments in recent times, may raise some questions on the basics of the Israeli security which were endorsed by the Jewish state since its foundation,” columnist, Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department and the former chancellor of the American University of Kuwait Dr Shafeeq Ghabra wrote for Awan daily Monday.
“Since its establishment, Israel has embraced the security ideology — to impose its military might and its ability to wage wars on various Arab fronts. This ideology was actually the first basis when Israel went to wars with the Arabs.

“The second basis is represented by the formation of a coalition with a superpower where Israel has been transformed into the protector of this superpower’s interests in the region. “Not just that, Israel plays the role of the striking force for this superpower ally. In this context, we remember how Israel had initially woven a coalition with Britain, then with France and now with the United States of America. The last coalition which lasts to this day began in 1967.

“The less populated Israel compared to the Arab world, has resulted in the former resorting to excessive military power in dealing with the Arab world. In spite of the above, we have observed that many changes have surfaced and they are likely to keep the Israel security ideology in an impasse.
“In other words, we expect this ideology to weaken Israel, particularly since we know the use of excessive military might by Israel against the Arab world, has resulted in the appearance of more extremist powers in Arab countries, and these powers are ready to confront Israel and we witnessed this during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in 2009 and Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006.

“During these wars, the Arab fighters showed a new radial pattern of fierce resistance against Israel. However, the persistence of this pattern by countries surrounding Israel in general and among the ranks of the Palestinian people in particular, shall constitute a serious threat against the Israeli security notion, lest to say this shall constitute an imminent danger to the Israeli entity, particularly since we know the Palestinians with other Arabs surrounding Israel are currently grooming themselves for a new confrontation with Tel Aviv.
“This will happen if Israel insists on its expansionist policy of building more settlements on Palestinian territories and insult the Arab and Muslim world by Judaizing the City of Jerusalem. This development is likely to result in Israel resorting to the war option to restore its regional solemnity and the ability to frighten neighboring countries.
“Apart from the above, the Israeli security depends on some other factors topped by its dependence on the United States of America since 1967 because the US attitude to extend unlimited support for Israel is the part and parcel of the Israeli security.

“In spite of the above, we have seen the US role in the Middle East has been diminishing and this may be due to the entry of the Chinese and the Russians in Middle East politics and some other countries especially at a time when the Israelis are exerting attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and build settlements on the Palestinian territories and this has constituted a heavy burden on the United States of America and its forces which are currently stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East.”

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“The Israeli secret service Mossad is involved in espionage operations, murdering prominent figures in the Arab world and fighting resistance movements and Jihadist operations,” columnist and professor at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies Dr Bassam Al-Shatti wrote for Alam-Alyawm daily Monday.
“However, Mossad managed to penetrate the Arab government apparatuses and organizations in addition to many other international organizations and the bring Jews from all over the world and settle them in the occupied Palestine. Mossad has played its role when it came to adopting some of the UN Security Council resolutions in addition to its influence with leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“Mossad has also placed the Jews in the region at the top of its priorities and this was evident through the Jewish conferences which were held in Iran and Morocco and some other countries.
“Mossad was founded in 1951 following a statement issued by the then Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion giving the salient strategic features of the Jewish state and the necessity to build an intelligence unit to maintain Israel’s national security and the establishment of the Jewish state from River Nile in Egypt to River Euphrates in Iraq.”

“The United States of America still wants to consecrate its domination of our region by sowing regional struggles and discords,” columnist and MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily Monday.
“For example Somalia witnesses a fierce fight and this fight erupted in the wake of a statement issued by Washington indicating the US forces were preparing to support the Somali government and this aggravated the situation and a new war erupted between the government and the opposition forces.
“Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has denied a statement which was issued recently by the US Secretary of Defense which said the Kingdom has given its consent to influence China and persuade it to impose sanctions on Iran.
“We also recall a statement which has been attributed to the US Ambassador to Iraq in 1990 who was quoted as telling Saddam Hussein that her government will intervene in the Iraqi-Kuwaiti conflicts.
“Needless to say such statements encouraged Saddam Hussein to carry out his destructive adventure by invading Kuwait and this adventure threw the entire region into a sea of disasters.
“Meanwhile, we say the arrival of US warships off the Lebanese coast about two years ago has helped up the tempo of a conflict between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah which has resulted in some Hezbollah combatants occupying Sunni areas bringing in sectarian congestion which still continues in some Lebanese areas.”
 
“I hope we will either refute a report and acquaint ourselves confidently and obviously from the charges contained in the report in question or keep quiet and take care of the defects to prepare ourselves to deal with the content of the report which will be issued next year,” columnist Dr Hasan Abbas wrote for Al-Rai daily Monday.
“This was the conclusion of an article which was penned by me on June 22, 2009 under the title ‘The American interference in our internal affairs’. However, the US State Department recently issued its annual report about human rights in Kuwait which says Kuwait in the eyes of the Americans still suffers from many problems pertaining to women, bedoun (stateless people), religious minorities or menial workers, political, moral and social rights.
“Here we would like to repeat what was said last year and learn the lessons and realize that the topic is too big and dangerous and this means all of us must shoulder our responsibilities towards our nation.
“In this context, we say the US State Department has been criticizing us on annual basis. This means the situations in our country are unsound or at least not so good. We must bear in mind that the situations in our country are unsound not because we are criticized by the US State Department, but because reality shows the situations are unhealthy.”
 
“Women all over the world celebrate March 8 as the International Women’s Day. Though women everywhere are suffering more or less, the focus is always on Eastern women during this celebration and women’s organizations start searching for something new that may help in improving the lot of these women,” columnist Amna Al-Mousawi wrote for Al-Dar daily.
“Most people start blaming Islamic legislations and say they oppress women’s rights. It is, however, quite well known that absence of such legislations corrupted the Western women.
“Many studies which were published this year said the situation of women improved in some countries in the region while it deteriorated in some other countries.  These studies lauded the progress and development achieved by Kuwaiti women, especially in terms of political rights.
“If the researchers who conduct these studies do not believe in women’s competence and their ability to evolve, it is better they change the name of the day to International Men’s Day.”
 
 “It is clear that a parliamentary lobby is quietly trying to make some amendments to rules and provisions stated in the Constitution. This is not a new movement; it lies dormant for a while and then starts afresh again depending on the political situation in the country,” columnist Nasser Al-Mutairi wrote for Al-Nahar daily.
“It is important to mention that there is a difference in the goal and meaning of ‘amend’ and ‘revise.’ Amendments are usually made to increase or decrease rights, freedoms or authorities provided by the Constitution. Revising, however, means expanding the field of freedom, nation and sovereignty.”
 
“The GCC ministerial council demanded that UN oblige Iraq to cooperate with Kuwait and solve all pending issues related to prisoners of wars (PoWs), missing people and return Kuwaiti property seized during the invasion, in addition to following UN Security Council’s resolutions,” columnist Meshrif Bin Eqab wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“We thank the GCC ministerial council for taking up this humanitarian cause and it shows that GCC countries share strong ties with each other. However, regretfully, GCC brothers are sometimes concerned about things which we don’t care about. For example, Kuwait rushed to build diplomatic ties with Iraq, but the latter didn’t bother itself with such niceties. The biggest evidence is the fact that Iraq has not nominated an ambassador to Kuwait since 2003.”
 
“Who has been inciting some labor unions to mount pressure on the government to attain the benefits of their career or financial demands? And, who is encouraging them to embark on demonstrations in order to obtain their rights,” Hassan Al-Mehemzy wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“Undoubtedly, there are parliamentary personalities maneuvering the labor unions with remote control, deciding the time to embark on the series of strike actions and sit-ins. It is obvious they focus on suspending activities at the state’s facilities just to prove their influence, in a somewhat illegal manner. Those parties operate in the dark, after they failed to form a Bloc openly.
“Definitely, the government appreciates unions which ask for their rights legally; yet some personalities losing political battles exploit these unions for personal interests”.
 
“In a previous article, I mentioned that traditional and Islamic banks don’t help in funding small-scale projects due to the risks involved. I also mentioned that the issue can be solved by establishing banks or companies specially for this purpose and that they should have flexible credit policy,” columnist Dr Mohammad Al-Fuzai’ wrote for Arrouiah daily.
“Some recent economic studies suggest establishing a government institution to guarantee small-scale projects. The institution can sign an agreement with commercial banks and the latter can then fund small projects.
“If the projects fail and the owners are unable to repay the loan, the proposed government institution can chip in.” 
 
“By submitting a grilling request against Minister of Information and Oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah, MP Ali Al-Deqbasi actually fulfilled a national duty. Many violations have been taking place at the Ministry of Information and the phenomena needs to be checked, before it spreads to other parts of the executive authority. The problem is also due to Cabinet’s negligence in monitoring the work of its members,” columnist Salah Al-Sayer wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The decision to file a grilling was not taken rashly; in fact, many MPs have been calling for a change in the work pattern at the ministry. Even the media had highlighted the irregularities at the ministry. Al-Abdullah had all the tools required to make the necessary changes.”
 
“It is pertinent the private sector played vital roles in developing the nation, but such roles should contemplate several factors, which include the nature of the economy, the stages of economic and social development in the society, the market’s size, and nature of the private sector, among others,” Dr Bader Al-Dehani wrote for Al-Jareeda daily.
“The Kuwaiti private sector has played and continues to play vital roles in the nation’s development, based on its involvement in various economic activities which the private sector wholly manages or it collaborates with the public sector in that concern. The private sector has long been a major player in education and medical care.
“Statements issued by some government officials and lawmakers recently to expand the private sector participation in education and health fields, and assumption that privatization is the ideal method which will do the magic, without thorough evaluation, is out of place.
“Actually, the real scientific evaluation has verified the private sector did not succeed in education and health fields owing to the need for huge funds to provide all necessary requirements”.
 
“The workers’ syndicates should demand rightful entitlements of their members. The syndicates have failed to realize that threat of demonstration and submitting their cases to UN is an indication of their failure as pressure groups,” columnist Abdul-Rahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Hurriya daily.
“The current state of affairs indicates that workers syndicates could not manage their affairs and dialogues with the government did not reach a logical conclusion. As a result, there is tension and disruption of work which is unacceptable in a country which has better salary scales compared to many other countries. The World Bank and other institutions testified this fact.
“We are not against granting salary increment to Kuwaiti employees. On the contrary, we want them to be comfortable with excess income, but we feel the issue does not deserve this kind of tension.”
 
“MP Dr Yousef Al-Zalzalah is one of the few parliamentarians who exudes serenity and impartiality.  He is moderate and believes in the principle of neutrality,” Mohammed Mesaed Al-Saleh wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“Al-Zalzalah recently forwarded questions to Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer over many issues, including the appointment of the new Kuwaiti health attachÈ in Germany.  He requested copies of the applications for the post, especially those included on the short list. 
“However, the MPs should have personally visited the minister to clarify the issue, instead of presenting him questions through the media and threatening to grill Al-Sayer —  one of the best members of the incumbent Cabinet.
“The Ministry of Health witnessed a number of remarkable accomplishments during the tenure of Al-Sayer.  He addressed several issues that have been left pending for many years.  We hope he continues in his current post.  We should give him a chance to implement his development plans, instead of troubling him with minor issues like the appointment of the health attache.”
 
“In the past, detectives from the General Department of Immigration — even before it became the general department, used to wait for people to complain about wrongful arrests or work hazards,” Talal Al-Sa’eed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“The department remained like this for a long period, during which bogus companies emerged, and visa traders increased in number. This led to a steady influx of expatriate workers, thereby resulting in high numbers of marginal workers and criminal activities. Kuwait has lost internal security guarantee due to the increase in the number of expatriates to three-fold the population of citizens.

“This contributed to the transformation of the department to a “General Department,” which injected new blood in search of residency violators, bogus companies and visa traders across the country.
“I personally envisage the department will defer, or slow down its activities, or even transfer its courageous leader Abdullah Al-Rashid, based on the number of anointed toes upon which he has stepped. Those people are so powerful they won’t allow Al-Rashid to block the millions of dinars they are making in the shady deals.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb