KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - GAZA INCURSION AND IRAQ

UNCLAS KUWAIT 002799 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO KDEM IZ KU MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - GAZA INCURSION AND IRAQ Block Quotes -------------- Monday, July 11, 2006 -- Mohamed bin Ibrahim Al-Shibany penned in progressive Arabic daily Al-Qabas under the title "Until When, Palestine?" (7/11): "Arabs will not have power, pride, and respect from other nations without their rulers knowing what they must do for their nation and religion. God will ask them about the excessive deaths that take place [in Palestine], all of which is working against them, not for them. And, how about people whose only concerns are to increase their daily revenues and enlarge their accounts, even if it comes at the expense of their own people?" -- Dr. Jassim Al-Fuhaid commented in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "Gaza=Pride" (7/11): "The reclusive official Arab stance towards the massacres taking place has helped to bolster the isolation that already exists between people and their governments. The people seethe with anger and rage, especially when they realize how constrained they are. They are powerless to aid those under siege, whose children's bodies are burning before us on our colored TV screens. What further enrages the people is the realization that their governments mobilize their troops only to close the borders in the face of any effort to aid their brothers with funds or weapons." -- Dr. Yaqoub Ahmed Al-Sharah inquired in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "The Difficult Choice" (7/11): "The situation in Iraq under the dictatorial rule of Saddam reflected the conflicts caused by the tyrannical rule and not the interference of external powers. Do the ramifications of the occupation of Iraq after thirty years of repression and dictatorial rule not warn of a civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites in the Islamic world as we see today and everyday in Iraq?" ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * TUELLER