LOCALARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

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Move by many countries to skipUN debate on atrocities deplored

‘Respect rights of Palestinian people’

GENEVA, July 8, (KUNA): Kuwait on Mon-day expressed regret over several countries that decided to boycott the UN’s Human Rights Council General Debate over Israeli violations in the occupied Arab lands.

This came in a statement by Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the UN Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim, saying that this boycott minimizes the importance of this case in the Council’s agenda, and it can also be seen as support for Israel’s hostile policy in violating International Law for Human Rights.

Al-Ghunaim noted that Is-rael is continuing to force Pal-estinians out of their homeland, pointing out that Kuwait con-demns such actions, especially in attempting to deform the Pal-estinian Identity, religion and culture in forcing them out of Jerusalem.

The Ambassador stressed Kuwait’s keenness on respect-ing legal rights of the Palestin-ian people, as well as voicing Kuwait’s concerns over recent provocative Israeli actions in Palestinian lands after an Israeli government offi cial have bro-ken into Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Also:CAIRO: Cairo’s historical Prince Taz Palace hosted 345 cartoon-ists from 71 nations, including Kuwait as guest of honour, for the Sixth International Cartoon Gathering on Sunday.

Kuwait’s attendance was welcomed as an opportunity to showcase its talent on the global stage, Kuwait Cartoon Society head Mohammad Thallab told attendees in an opening speech.

Caricaturists from the coun-try have brought along works focused on the event’s theme, culture, along with some of their most notable drawings.

Taking part are pioneers on the Kuwaiti cartoonist scene, like Abdulredha Kamal, Jaafar Rejab, Abdulwahab Al-Awa-dhi and Musallam Al-Zamel.

Kuwaiti cartoonists, in the last 50 years, have had a profound effect on the development of the art form throughout the Gulf and Arab regions, said Thallab.

Since its inception some two years ago, the society has also done its part to encourage the growth of the movement in the country through hosting exhibi-tions and workshops.

The Cairo-held event, as a fea-ture, is showcasing an exhibition of cartoon illustrations left behind by the late Egyptian Nobel laure-ate, writer Najib Mahfoudh.

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Hen that lays gold won’t be slain’

‘Iran moves benefi t US, Israel’“PRESIDENT Donald Trump can be deemed as one of the most controversial American presidents,” columnist Talal Abdulkarim Al-Arab wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“During his election campaign he issued many pledg-es some of which looked diffi cult to be translated into reality, and in spite of this he went on to create many problems for others including the Americans.

“However, when he won the race to the White House, he proved that he is one of the US presidents who ful-fi lled his pledges in general and in particular those which favor Israel over the Arabs.

“In this context, among his worst pledges were recog-nition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli occupa-tion in addition to blessing the Israeli decision to annex the Syrian occupied Golan Heights as well as his insist-ence to conclude the so-called the ‘Deal of the Century’.

“But what is most perplexing for us is to see him re-linquishing some of his earlier other pledges specifi cally those related to Iran. In this connection, we elucidate that when Iran threatened to close down the Straits of Hormuz, Trump threatened to clip Tehran’s wings if it involves in terrorist operations against it (America) or against international navigation, hinting the reaction of his country will be crucial and will target Iran.

“But what occurred on the ground is indeed surprising be-cause many terrorist operations were carried out against the Amer-ican bases, airplanes, installations and oil tankers, but Mr. Trump, has not moved an inch to such an extent we venture to say he has paid no attention to his relevant threats.

“Not just that, he revoked his threats on the basis of some evi-dence which is unreasonable and illogical. In this con-nection we say one of his more controversial evidences, was to refrain to react against the Iranian attacks on evi-dence that he was keen to spare the lives of 150 Iranian soldiers.

“Given the above, we wonder why Trump mobilized the fl eets and warplanes in the Gulf region. In other words, were these fl eets and warplanes sent to receive the strikes and react against the attacker by throwing roses in his path for fear of killing the attacker?

“However, the setback that has been shown by Mr. Trump, reminds us of Mr. Barack Obama when he threatened to attack Bashar Al-Assad of Syria – one of the Iranian vehicles in our region – if he used chemical weapons against the Syrians, but this threat resulted in Al-Assad intentionally using such weapons.

“In the wake of this development, Obama mobilized his fl eets and came to the Syrian shores and this move sent panic down the spine of many powers in the region including Russia and Iran and all people in the region expected the regime of Bashar Al-Assad to be toppled in just a few hours, but Obama surprisingly and ignobly retreated in disgrace which proved fatal for the Syrians. His setback encouraged Iran to expand the base of its infl uence in Syria.

“As a matter of fact, the US and even the European leniency towards Iran is obvious to such an extent, pro-tecting the Iranian regime by the Americans and the Europeans appears imperative in spite of what has been published by them about the human rights violations in Tehran and in spite of its role in instigating riots in the Arab countries in addition to the Iranian interventions in the internal affairs of some Arab countries.

“Such being the case, we have started believing that the current practices of the Iranian regime, meet the re-quirements of the West and Israel and it seems that the Iranian regime certainly knows that and as such is cur-rently involved in exploiting the same.

“In this connection, we look at the article that was penned by the advisor to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yaseen Aqtai under the title, ‘America will not kill the hen which lays gold for it’.

“However, this phrase was chosen as the title of this article, because this phrase confi rms the viewpoint of many people who believe America doesn’t like to bring down the regime because both America and Israel are its major benefi ciaries.

“Anyway, here is the part of what Aqtai wrote in his article in question but modifi ed due to its importance, as follows; ‘Washington doesn’t make haste to rescue any party, because its policy is not based on surmounting threats, rather it is based on exploiting the same and this is applicable to the Iranian threats against the Gulf states, otherwise, how Trump will surmount the Iranian regime since he and his predecessors consider this regime as a hen that lays gold for them?

“Meanwhile, Aqtai said the pots of the Gulf region are boiling against Iran, but no one knows who will be the victim of boiling pots this time, because these pots have been continuously boiling in the past against Iran, but the victims were the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and even Lebanon, but Iran has remained far away from these pots.

“However, the usage of the words ‘boiling pots’ bears the Safawi signature, since Ismael Al-Safawi of Iran was throwing his foes into a pot of boiling water and the peo-ple during that time used to wait eagerly to see whose turn will be next.

“As a matter of fact, Iran threatens the Arabs and the Arabs pay in gold to America against the Iranian threats. In other words, was it not for Iran the Arabs would be reluctant to squander their money to protect themselves from the devilish Iranian actions.”

Also:“I believe the shooting down of the American drone in

the Gulf waters by Iranian Revolutionary Guard is actu-ally a tactical measure that falls within the calculations which stage managed to contain the crisis in collabora-tion with Washington,” columnist Dr Nasser Khamees Al-Mutairi wrote for Annahar daily.

“In other words, this three-dimensional incident was directed at the Iranian internal front, the second at the Gulf region and the third at the American opponent.

“In this context, we say the realm of international re-lations indicates that ‘any foreign danger shall contribute to the unifi cation of the internal ranks’. Not just that, it is but natural to see Iran resorting to the direct escalation in spite of its danger because the acceptance of the current situation as is including the US economic sanctions, shall in the long term means consecrating the US domination on Iran and this shall eventually lead to the gradual death of both the Iranian state and regime.

“Given the above, Iran decided to stir the Gulf cri-sis through pre-emptive strike to shock Washington and strengthen Tehran and this is what exactly happened on the ground represented by implicating Trump and this was evident through his reaction when the drone was shot down.

“Apart from the above, the Iranian stone targeted another bird at the regional level. It carried a muscle-fl exing message to the Iranian opponents in the Gulf in-dicating the Iranian regime is capable of ‘challenging’ any US ally (the Gulf state). In other words, this message was seemingly addressed to serve the interest of the Ira-nian regime during the current crisis.

“The third dimension, which Iran was striving to achieve through its preemptive strike, was aimed at end-ing the suffocation American siege of Iran and force Trump to come to the negotiating table tailored to satisfy

Iran. “In this context, I fi nd myself agreeing to the opinion

that the rules of the current battle are not subjected to the ‘criterion’ of might, rather to the criterion of ‘ability to endure’ given the fact this situation favors Iran.

“It is known that Trump realizes that the ‘death’ of a single American soldier in the Gulf shall spell disaster for him in the eyes of the US public opinion, particularly at a time when he will be in a race to occupy the White House during the next presidential elections. But Iran, will not take into account such losses.

“Such being the case, we believe there are indica-tions that the current situation shows that Iran is lead-ing the management of the current crisis through actual initiatives and effective actions by hitting at the symbol of might and the American military technology, particu-larly since we know that the Iranian strike was met with American silence and surrender of the US administra-tion.

“Consequently, we wonder if Washington will accept this hesitant role and become a target for Iranian strikes and then look for excuses and justifi cations on behalf of the Iranians to pull out of the Gulf region as a loser.”

“Nonetheless, let us wait and watch.” ❑ ❑ ❑

“Kuwait has lost one of its righteous sons who con-tributed a lot to this country with all his love, passion and loyalty. He was a loyal son to Kuwait, the protec-tor of its progress, and a contributor to its construction. He never failed to raise the name of our beloved country everywhere. It is not possible for me or anyone else to count the noble actions taken by Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi for Kuwait,” Muhammad Al-Sarawi wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“Abu Abdullah was distinguished in all matters po-litical, social and religious. We learned a great deal from him, and we joined him for many international, regional and local meetings. He was a complete school of gen-erosity. He was a brilliant negotiator who supported his interventions with insightful arguments and evidences.

“Abu Abdullah took up many portfolios including in the Ministry of Health, and others as well as mem-bership in the National Assembly and many technical councils. He had great interest in environmental work and its activities, and encouraged us to engage and show interest in such work and activities at the local level. Department of Environmental Protection in Min-istry of Health is the foundation of organized environ-mental work in Kuwait.

“The deceased (May Allah have mercy on him) played a great role along with many of his colleagues to spread awareness about the right of the State of Kuwait and fi ght the brutal Iraqi aggression, by visiting many countries around the world and speaking on international platforms to affi rm the right of Kuwait to get back its country.

“After the liberation of the State of Kuwait, he con-tributed to shedding light on the effects of the burning oil wells and gave many lectures in universities, science clubs and academic gatherings around the world to ex-plain the impact of the burning oil wells on entire hu-manity as well as on food security.”

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“About 85 percent of respondents in an electronic survey conducted by Al-Qabas newspaper on Twitter were dissatisfi ed with the prices of Hajj caravans, while only 5 percent showed satisfaction. This indicates that Hajj caravans surcharge intending pilgrims beyond af-fordability, which amounts to the exploitation of reli-gion for illegal fi nancial gain and complexity of Hajj to the people. It constitutes a clear hindrance to answer-ing the call of God through performing the rites of the religion,” columnist Dr Hamoud Al-Hattab wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“Al-Arabiya TV Channel has denied claim by some owners of the caravans protesting that the high cost of Hajj is due to skyrocketing price of housing and standard of living in the Hajj season, citing a Saudi newspaper. Some caravans say they provide pilgrims services in exchange for preferential prices! This is another trick to gain. What kind of services do the fraudulent caravans offer? They house four pilgrims in one room in hotels or rented apartments.

“Does the work include the Hajj caravans offering gifts to pilgrims to double the prices? Is it necessary to provide refrigerators for ice cream? Are wasteful buffets that produce a huge surplus of food in waste dumps part of the essentials of services offered to the pilgrims? Are entertainment competitions part of the Hajj activities and necessities? It simply means preoccupying pilgrims with things other than remembering God? Many Hajj cara-vans commit Shari’a errors in the work, because of fat-was issued by the so-called caravan scholars.”

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“Despite the fact that there are very important issues on the agenda of the National Assembly for Wednes-day’s session like the fi nancial situation of the State, as well as the reports of the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee on the draft law approving the fi nal account of the fi nancial administration of the State for fi scal 2017/2018 and the draft law on the State budget for fi scal 2019/2020; the vote on the no-confi dence motion against Minister of Finance Dr Naif Al-Hajraf remains the most talked about subject on the Kuwaiti street,” columnist Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“The vote on the no-confi dence motion against one of the ministers is enough for public opinion to be con-cerned about it. This is not the only issue which draws the attention of citizens to the legislative session today, but also the feeling that they are facing a serious and real test in terms of the objectivity and fairness of MPs in looking at things and issues.

“We are in front of a minister whom everyone con-fi rmed his competence and integrity, and his rejection of any political pressure at the expense of national interest that he protects by virtue of the oath he took before His Highness the Amir and the National Assembly.”

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“Last year this week, the Kuwait Society for Qual-ity Education called on the new leadership of National Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Ed-ucation to be aware of the nature of its work, as bold decisions and courageous initiatives are required, and to rely only on true national competence and academic in-tegrity after its indifference in activating the role of the apparatus became apparent,” Bader Al-Bahr wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“We wanted to give the new administration more time especially since remarkable achievements had been re-alized by Dr. Nouriya Al-Awadhi who established and instilled the national standards system for academic in-stitutional accreditation with the cooperation of an elite team.

“The answer to our question is whether or not the new administration has passed this test clearly in achieving its most important role specifi ed in the decree of its es-tablishment and what we have been demanding from the beginning.

“As for the list of new Egyptian universities, we do not want to refer to the pressures imposed to pass the accreditation. We would like to highlight what we had warned in our article last April about the disaster of ap-proving a university in Jordan which did not conform to the required standards.”

– Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Arab

Condolences extended: Repre-sentative of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Acting Amiri Diwan Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, extended condolences for Prince Saudi bin Nayef and Prince Mohammad bin Nayef Sunday for passing away of their mother, Princess Al-Jawhara bint Abdulaziz bin Musaed Al-Saud.

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Trading in green zone: Boursa Ku-wait ended trading Sunday in green zone as the premier market index went up 78.85 points to reach 6,623.13 points.

The main market index also rose 8.22 points to reach 4,791.97 points and the all share market index went up 55.82 points to stand at 6,006.29 points.

The value of trades was at KD 46.1 million with the volume reaching KD

176.3 million shares done through 7,240 deals.

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Woman refused entry: The UAE woman who arrived at the Kuwait International Airport with her husband was refused entry and sent back to the UAE citing security reasons, reports Al-Rai daily.

The woman arrived for a short vaca-tion and during the process the passport men found that she was not allowed to visit the country for security reasons.

Security offi cers allowed the husband to enter, but he objected to what hap-pened and said there was no reason to deprive his wife from entering Kuwait, as she was not involved in any legal problems either in Kuwait or in the UAE.

A security source said the woman had to return on the same fl ight and her husband had no choice but to ac-company her.

News in Brief

KUNA photo Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the UN , Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim

speaking at the gathering.