KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - JANUARY 11 UPDATE ON KUWAITI MEDIA

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SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - JANUARY 11 UPDATE ON KUWAITI MEDIA
COVERAGE OF VIOLENCE IN GAZA

REF: 11 Kuwait 09, 1253 KUWAIT 08

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SUMMARY
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Sunday, January 11, 2009


1. (U) Summary and Comment. As of Sunday, January 11, all Kuwaiti
Arabic and English language print dailies continued to publish
headlines and pictures related to the ongoing situation in Gaza. In
addition to the continued front page news updates, a number of
columnists criticized the Bush Administration for recently posting a
story about the death of the White House cat on the White House
website while the violence in Gaza continued. End Summary and
Comment.


2. (U) Block quotes:

--The moderate Arabic language daily Al-Qabas published a letter by
Mohammed Al-Saleh written on behalf of the children of Gaza and
addressed to President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. In the
letter, Mr. Al-Saleh criticized their decision to mourn a cat when
people in Gaza are dying from the Israeli aggression. He
sarcastically (01/11): "offered to bury the deceased cat in Tel Aviv
to remain a symbol of Bush's loyalty to Israel."

--The Editorial Section of the conservative Al-Watan Arabic daily
included an Op-Ed by Mr. Nabeel Al-Awadhi, an Islamic preacher and
known critic of U.S. policy, where he commented on the White House
statement about the death of the Bush family cat (01/08): "At times
when people are mourning the death of innocent children and
civilians in Gaza, the White House issues a statement mourning the
death of a cat. This is because they have no respect for the
dignity of Muslims. God damn them, their allies, and anyone who
supports them."

--Conservative Salafi writer Dr. Wael Hassawi, said in his regular
column in the moderate Al-Rai (01/08): "The Israeli secret service
website issued a report on Arab writers who supported Israel in its
current aggression on Gaza. Amongst those were four famous Kuwaiti
writers. We ask the government, and the Kuwaiti Journalists'
Association take a decisive position on those who have ruined
Kuwait's image, and Islam by cooperating with the Jews, and by
back-stabbing their fellow Palestinians in critical times."

--Regular columnist in the conservative Arabic daily Al-Watan Dr.
Abdullah Al-Hadlaq criticized Hamas as well as the Arab silence
towards Israeli operations in Gaza. Dr. Hadlaq said (01/08): "You
can fool some people all the time, you can fool all people
sometimes, but you cannot fool all people all the time. This is
what Hamas is trying to do. Hamas has adopted the slogan Fighting
the Israeli Enemy. I wonder if this is what Palestinians want?
Hamas has lost its supporters, because no Arab country agrees with
its policies and stances."

--On the last page of the moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai, Salafi
columnist Wael Al-Hassawi examined the reasons behind Israel's power
as compared to Arab states. Headlined 'The reasons behind Israel's
power,' it states (01/11): "Israel has taken advantage of all
possible means of power since its establishment. They have excelled
in manufacturing and had reached the level of the top producers and
exporters in the world, they have developed their agriculture
sector, have stolen water sources, and have not ignored their
military armaments."
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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/
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JONES