Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A TV Channel Was Closed in Kuwait

WaA TV channel was closed in Kuwait , a news that is not surprising that much in the Middle East or in the Arab world considering the level of freedom in the region but somehow it is strange in Kuwait because the country somehow enjoys a level of freedom and democracy other countries do not have that level.
Of course when you read that a TV channel is closed in any Arab country , you must immediately think of the politics as a reason and it is our case here
The TV Channel that was closed earlier from couple of weeks ago is called El-Soor and the owner of this channel Muhammad Al-Juwaihel was arrested after rumors that he fled the country to Egypt. The crisis started when Al-Juwaihel appeared on a live TV show accusing a number of MPs from tribal backgrounds of having dual citizenship creating a huge controversy  in the country leading to the closure of his channel and his arrest.
Here is the controversial episode , of course I am not expert in the Kuwaiti internal affairs and I can’t judge on him but I think closing a channel and arresting a man for saying his opinion is too much.
Some people will say that this man is threatening the unity of Kuwait as if one man’s opinion will split in two halves , this is ridiculous , I think the unity of Kuwait is much more stronger to be affected with one man’s opinion.
All this debate upon the closure of the channel and that article episode of that TV show clearly indicates  that this dual citizenship thing is clearly a taboo which should be opened and discussed logically sooner better than later.

1 comment:

  1. I take the freedom and democracy description of Kuwait with a big pinch of salt... The Persian Gulf States (AbdelNasser called it the Arabian Gulf) are wary of Iranian influence in their region. The ethnic makeup of these States is quite varied comprising Indigenous Arabs, blacks descended from slaves as well as many 3ajam or people of Iranian origin. Most of those whose origins are Persian are Shia. President Mubarak remarked soon after the invasion of Iraq that the loyalties of Iraq's Shia lay with Iran! This statement caused a lot of consternation amongst Iraq's Shia and Seyyid Ali Sistani the foremost Shia spiritual leader who is based in Iraq sent an open letter of protest. Now Egypt's officials who do not share a border or ethnic ties with Iran are weary of Iranian influence in Iraq, one can understand the sensitivity that the issue of national allegiances can invoke in Kuwait. The channel and idiotic episode were setting a precedent whereby ethnic political allegiances can be questioned and Kuwaiti authorities were not prepared to allow this to go unpunished.

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