Looking at the newspapers on display at a newsstand, my eyes fell on a copy of an old issue of the Kuwaiti magazine Al-Arabi that generations have grown up with since its launch in 1958.
I remember how it used to be sold in the Egyptian market for one and a quarter pounds, meaning that the price of one copy was less than a quarter of the price of a daily newspaper. Before that, the famous magazine’s price had been even lower. The implication was that the government in Kuwait was heavily subsidizing every copy, with the aim of ensuring that the magazine reached every hand across the Arab world.
The slogan that has always appeared at the top of Al-Arabi’s pages says: “An illustrated monthly cultural magazine, written by Arabs for all Arabs.” It would not have been possible for its slogan to earn its standing among readers had there not been influential names of considerable stature leading it: beginning with Dr. Ahmad Zaki and Ahmad Bahaa Eddin, passing through Dr. Mohammed Al-Rumaihi and Dr. Suleiman Al-Askari, then Dr. Adel Al-Abduljader, and finally Ibrahim Al-Mulaifi, its current editor-in-chief.
It would not have been possible for all Arabs to read it unless it had been supported by sales of the magazines of every reader. Nor would it have been possible for all Arabs to read it without Kuwaiti’s determination to play a cultural role and the view of the magazine as one face of that many-faceted role.
I remember Kuwait’s World of Knowledge series, which had been the foundation of entire libraries for Arab readers. I remember the magazine World of Thought, which never stopped unpacking deep intellectual questions. I remember the World Theater series, which brought masterpieces of world theater to the Arab reader. I remember many others, and with them, how many great cultural services Kuwait has rendered to Arabs on a wide scale.
I remember the bright cultural image of this country. Alongside it I remember another image at the humanitarian level, the fact that the country had become known during the days of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, may God have mercy on him. There was hardly a humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world that Kuwait was not involved in, helping and providing relief. It made no distinction among those affected by the crisis on the basis of language, religion, or race. Rather, it saw the human being as a human being, and nothing more. It was therefore no surprise that its former emir, Sheikh Sabah, became known as the “Emir of Humanity” until the end, nor was it surprising that he was honored by the United Nations secretary-general at the UN headquarters in New York for that role.
When Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad later became emir, and then Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad, the current emir, Kuwait’s humanitarian work persisted despite all circumstances.
Alongside these cultural and humanitarian faces, there was also a prominent political face. It was manifested, on one level, in Arab solidarity with the causes of the nation, and, on another, the question of normalization with Israel. The government’s declared position was as follows: we will be the last to normalize. Kuwait will follow the path of the Arabs and Palestinians together, and they should all shape their relations with Israel together and proceed along it; Kuwait will follow them, accept what they accept, and sign on a document that all Arabs have already signed.
In light of the noble Prophetic hadith that says: “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith.” The repeated attacks that Kuwait is being subjected to by Iranian drones and missiles surely fall under the category of the evil referred to in the hadith. Kuwait must be supported by governments, nations, and individuals across the Arab world. Arab governments can support Kuwait against an assault, changing evil by their hand. Their media can offer support and thus be like those who change evil by tongue. As for nations and individuals, they can show sympathy with Kuwait, and they will be among those who change evil in their hearts, because they cannot change it by hand or tongue.
Kuwait finds itself compelled to repel missile and drone attacks against it day after day, despite never having harbored evil toward Iranians, nor ever having thought of causing harm to any Iranian. Geography, nonetheless, makes its proximity to Iran one of those decrees of fate that cannot be turned back. While acknowledging this, Kuwait has always called on the government of the Supreme Leader in Tehran to ensure that the principles of good neighborliness are observed on the Iranian shores of the Gulf just as they are observed on the Kuwaiti shores opposite.
Every Arab government should offer Kuwait whatever aid and assistance according to ability. And if the Arab citizen who grew up with Al-Arabi magazine since its launch can do the same, and expressing sympathy is no less than the weakest of faith, the least they could do.
