What’s holding our progress?

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In most democracies, two or more parties struggle to win power, and a few countries have more than four, for example. As for Israel, there are more than 30 parties, and they are in constant union and division, and it is difficult for any of them to form a government without a coalition with others despite differences and contradictions among them.

Colleague and academician Mohammad Al-Rumaihi says in a distinguished article on the Middle East (19-6-2021), that this scattered political mixture clearly expresses the true nature of the Israeli society which is made up of different racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, some of which view each other as inferior.

Al-Rumaihi logical question is: What is the secret of the existence of a state with such scientific and military strength that appears cohesive on the outside and is so discordant from within?

He says the matter lies in two factors – the first depends on the ideology of investment in fear on the one hand, and the presence of state institutions that impose respect for the law on everyone on the other hand and these two factors balance societal fragmentation.

This is true to some extent despite the fact that the fear of their hostile surroundings and the fear of returning to the tragedies of the Diaspora unite them but there is a third factor that is no less important and lies in the depth and real awareness of these two factors, and this would not have been achieved if the Israeli society had not been well educated, otherwise, the past seven decades would have been enough to domesticate them and push them to adapt and to forget the persecution of their ancestors for this is the nature of human beings.

If we apply the fear factor to Kuwait which is most qualified to be afraid of its surroundings and its future and the possibility of a return to hardship and extreme poverty, we will find that this double factor has never received national attention because of the poor culture and low education of Kuwaiti society compared to the Israeli one.

The only exception may be found among the tribal and sectarian minorities, where fear often pushes them to choose the most extreme representative regarding their issues.

Mr. Al-Rumaihi mentioned that, on the other hand, we find that despite the similarity of the Palestinian society in many things, compared to the Israeli society, it failed to build inclusive and impregnable institutions and did not uphold the rule of law, so the unified fragmented society is versus the unity of the fragmented Israelis.

The Jews have neighbored us in almost every country for thousands of years, and if we focus on the neighborhood of the Palestinians to them especially in the last hundred years, we will find that the Palestinians and we are not better than them, did not learn much from that neighborhood, and their presence, or their overwhelming scientific progress did not constitute fear for them or motivated them to follow their example.

The Jews were a minority in “Palestine” until the 1940s, yet they had a unified authority and after their establishment they had the strongest army in the region, the best universities and international scientific and research centers, the highest level of education and the highest average income per capita in the region and their number reached 9.5 million, including 7.5 million Jews.

Since its inception, Israel has set an example one after another in the area of progress, expansion, learning, reclamation of deserts, establishing the most complex industries and nuclear armaments and attracting millions to them while we are looking at them with open mouths, unable to do anything as if we are possessed.

A new Israeli government was formed a few days ago with the support of an Arab party affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood. The government has 9 female ministers and this is an unprecedented phenomenon in our ‘masculine’ countries.

The appointment of the nine women ministers constitutes a blow to some of our customs and traditions, especially after reading their biography and how five of them are from two Arab countries, Morocco and Iraq, and among them is the one who holds the rank of major-general in the army, and she is the Minister of Economy and her name does not matter here.

The second woman holds a Master’s degree from the University of Haifa in business administration, a former soldier in the army.

As for the Minister of Interior in the new government, who was born 45 years ago in Tel Aviv from an Iraqi father is an accountant who migrated from Iraq in the 1950s (imagine in the fifties, and his daughter takes over the Ministry of the Interior).

I will not break your heart in recounting the biography of the rest of the ministers, for among them are paralyzed and seriously ill and other matters whose importance is difficult for us to comprehend.

Their society, which we hate, and I do not demand that we fall in love with it, deserves to learn something from it and at least an iota of tolerance among one another, and some love of science, and some order, and some justice, and some respect the law, and something of equality between men and women, and something and something and something.

Israeli citizens of the first generation and the immigrants to Israel occupy the highest political and military positions in the state as well as the most sensitive such as state security without anyone asking them about loyalty because it is a foregone conclusion in a state that believes in equality and justice which we do not possess much.

Then we come to our countries and shed tears over our conditions. The fourth generation who came to Kuwait hundreds of years ago cannot be trusted until today, banned from working in specific government agencies because of outdated matters but their effects remain in the souls.

The state demands them to prove that they are trustworthy before it allows them to work in all state facilities like others while the other side asks the state to give them confidence, and they will prove afterwards that they are worthy of it.

Until the two parties agree, we will remain where we are.

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By Ahmad alsarraf

This news has been read 16630 times!