To The Years

To the Decembers of sorrow and longing I raise a glass. They are such weird months, arriving each year with the remnants of another autumn - wind, lost leaves, yet more chills. And each year, they set the scene for another look back at the passage of time and lost emotions, unrivaled failures and miniature triumphs. They provide the background for more unanswered questions: What have you done so far? What more can you do? Are you happy? Are you sad? Where is the love? 

I never imagined myself to be here five Decembers ago. And here, here, is not a geographic location nor is it a stop on the timeline of my life. Here is a state of mind! Where I envisioned myself to be was a completely different state, or maybe I did not really have any expectations, but I certainly did not want to be here. In a state of lacking. 

This childlike behavior seems not to be able to escape my mindset. Why the constant exposure of clichéd writings that really do nothing but heighten one's unapparent sorrows? Passages that I'll read again with the passage of time and regret their presence under my name. At a point in time, these were acceptable, and actually a sign of maturity and foresight, and maybe even depth of character. But today, how can they be reconciled with the seemingly real-life experiences of the past five years? They cannot be reconciled because nothing really changed. The core feelings that I once felt fluttering in my stomach, injecting me with adrenaline are still here, and yes, they may have faded a little, but they're still strong enough to enlighten a dream and darken a day. They can still let people catch me in a teenaged daydream, or force me to think of the what ifs before I sleep, formulating a scenario after another, either inviting a lonely, unseen smile or instigating a tear. 

Of course, this December is a little bit different than all other Decembers, as this one has a defining character to it. It couples its all too familiar triggers of Decembers past, with the stress of law exams. But then again, I am thankful - no idea to whom, but I am - and content. For maybe by next December a difference is achieved. I do not expect anything better, but only the onset of something different. One always desires what one cannot have, and I desire the near impossible. 

This December arrived with yet more ambiguity and a little bit of surety. I'm only sure that the other is still as beautiful as ever, and my love yielded nothing whatsoever. I'm sure that it's time to move on from this state of mind into another with confidence and greater aspirations. But everything is still ambiguous and hard to accept. The lack of affirmative knowledge continues to pierce my efforts for a better expectation. Nobody can be better. Nobody can even be the same; they can only be different, and this is what I think I'm striving for. 

To the years of my past and identical self I cherish a memory of sheer happiness. A memory that happened on a chilly December night, under the stars. A memory which I once hoped to erase because it set a true benchmark of bliss that I do not think I will ever reach in my life. But now, knowing the futility of my hopes, I'll cherish it and remember it, and smile with it, and aspire to get as close to its effect as possible. 

Law School Finals

This blog experienced it all. My upper department mentality at the British School of Kuwait, my initial reluctance when accepted to study Civil Engineering at Kansas State University, my escapades as a graduate, and six years since its inception, it's witnessing a new academic adventure, my first semester law school exams.

And let me tell this blog the ugliness of my current undertaking.

I'm supposed to be preparing for my law school finals, but instead I'm taking time out of whatever sanity and alertness left in my brain to type this post. And I write this just to remind my grown-up self that this blog post is a bad investment of time.

Okay. So I know law. A semester's worth of it, at the very least, or at least, I think I know a semester's worth of the law. And yes, we, the elitist society of law student call the law, The Law.

Frankly, I do not know where this journey is going to take me. I may just flunk this semester's exams and just be content with my purportedly esteemed engineering degree and stay in Kuwait. But the weird thing, although not apparent in the practice exams I am taking, is that I know my shit, and I absolutely love the law.

So far I forged beautiful friendships with people I absolutely wouldn't have imagined myself befriending previously, and the care and love they show me is overwhelming.

Anyhow, I should get back to studying or to sleep. I just needed five minutes to clear my thoughts and write up something to either sorely or happily, or maybe contently remember.

*Excuse the apparent grammatical mistakes. Today, I give no damn whatsoever. 

There Was Once

There was once a group of people 

Under one ceiling

In union.

A union of abstinence, a religious duty

Fasting in a hot afternoon.

There was once a group of worshippers

Under one ceiling 

In union. 

A union of actions, of whispered words 

Whispered words of reverence 

And glory, glory to one God.

There was once a group of individuals

Under one ceiling

In union. 

A union of stances, reciting verses of devotion

Devotion to a lord almighty. 

There was once a group of humans

Under one ceiling

In union.

A union of prostration, expressions of humility

And gratitude

And love. 

.

.

.

There was once one lone coward

Under a veil

In solitude

Wearing destruction and hate.

There was once a monster

Under a veil

A veil of fake religious beliefs 

In an attire of abhorrence and terror.

.

.

.

There was once an attack

Under a dome of peace

In cowardice. 

From behind, sending to the heavens the peaceful

Injuring the unsuspecting

Shocking a community.

.

.

.

 There is now a country

Under one sky, on one pure land

In grief.

Exemplifying the art of giving

Honoring its martyrs, caring for its injured, 

Loving its people. 

There is now Kuwait

A haven of differences

In union

A union of tolerance and acceptance

An undivided home.

And it will always be. 

Audacity

Where did the audacity go?
I miss you. I want you. I need you. To the churns of an Arabic Oud I divulge my feelings.
The yearn to burst into tears is audacious. What do I need?
What's there to miss and need and want?
People lose their loved ones easily, and for what? A wrong turn? A stupid teenager in a fancy car? The random behavior of a body unhappy of one's dietary cravings? And here I am mourning my own happiness, my contentedness.

And it's not really specificity which I need. There isn't a particular being owning the keys to my smiles and true laughs. But on the contrary; it's a random grin that pours love into my unbelieving soul, and then it subsides and everything is back to normal. The sickening type of normality.

I lost the ability to express. I have many things to say and limited abilities of expression. It's like everything is another language, and I can't understand it nor does it understand me. I have a knack for rhetorical questions. I can't stand it.

I over-appreciate beauty. I'd love to think that I don't, but I certainly do. I expect a lot from a beautiful person. I expect their goodness to be of the same level as their beauty.

Days go by without anything of value really. Nothing to consolidate anything. Just the movement of time uncaring of whatever that goes on in life, and it's really not fun.

Complaints following complaints following complaints summing up the attitude of this writer. A highly-regarded personality among many, and a lowly character in the senses of his typing fingers.

Put that fragile little abhorrent manifestation
Of a cylinder between your lips, 
And carry that filled up canister, 
Strike your thumb once, 
Or twice.
Make sure of your success
Hear the hiss of chemistry at its finest,
Breathe in. Breathe in more, 
And stir up a true smile,
True fucking laughter.

I guess that's my way of trying to be audacious. 

The Absence of Quality

I despise the absence of quality. The recurrence of similar episodes. The previous idea awaiting a paraphrase, and that's it. Nothing to come out of it but a statement of presence and maybe the feigned satisfaction of imaginary accomplishment. And maybe, just maybe, what is done is hailed as evolutionary, revolutionary, innovative and whatnot, but it's just a fucking paraphrase.

I love myself. I admire what I'm doing. I think that I'm better than a lot of people, and I acknowledge that I have no right to such whatsoever, but I actually do. I take the smallest of accomplishments, the minutest overcoming of hardship, and magnify it in my head as a landmark of many sorts. Again, I have no right. I'm kidding myself.

I do not recognize my shortcomings. A blatant failure, to me, is automatically translated into a courageous escapade into the impossible and the impossible just caught up. Simple as that.

I'm not complimenting myself.

There are a lot of "I"s in this piece.

There is no ending to this piece. It will be left hanging. It's the same as the rest. A recurrence of similar episodes, lacking quality and a para-phrasal of previous ideas.

I'm tormented by the thought of abrupt ends. He's absent, and that's just excruciating, or an excuse to do whatever I want. The relativity of morality. Haha, haha. Or maybe I should be grateful for the law of mankind.

I want to write. And yet it's just a statement of presence which results in a feigned satisfaction of this imaginary accomplishment. Yes, I accomplish random writing vomits, and I am actually proud, for maybe this, one day, may be called evolutionary or revolutionary or even innovative prose. For are there worthy synonyms to Him but the creators of poems, the litterateurs of universe?

"I loved a pretty one, 

O how I desire to be his shadow."

Fuck domestic, societal, communal, traditional pressure. 

Fuck being realistic.

Fuck being oblivious to destruction.

Yes, sit in your Dewania, play a useless card game and do nothing whatsoever in your life except the action of inserting sustenance into your body keeping you alive for another day of uselessness. Fuck your inaction. 

Yes, be a factor of the damning pressures of society, but do nothing to actually better it. 

Yes, sit comfortable and complain, like I'm doing right here. Be a peach. A rotten apple. 

Let them clothe you, feed you, bury you. Let them move you right and left and stay as the puppet that you are. 

Okay. I think I went overboard. This took too long, and I thought of many things throughout. And quality is certainly an absentee. 

To The Lack Thereof

Fuck. Point, blank.
Sequential syllables are an abhorrent reality. You're an abhorrent existence. You have no sense of anything. You're a flood of needless emotions, a symbolic figure in need. And what does one need but A warm cushion?

"But there isn't a coast of limits. Two birds alike absorbing our tweets of pleasure."

To hell with routine and alarms. Days lacking a sense of meaning.

"Give me undue promises. Do not come. For a hug in trance is enough." I swear to God enough.

For life goes on, and your words linger, your smiles sting with blessed memories. Who knew that good times can be so hurtful?

Please do arrive in a vivid dream. Flood me with your vanishing existence. Come and want me, for I want you, and dare I say need you. I'm calling. I really am.

And where is patience? Where is the dullness of years I was promised. Time doesn't heal. People don't heal. You left too large of a space.

The lack of indignation. The lack thereof, of you, fuckin' you.

*Inspired by Khaled الشيخ!

اقتراح بقانون في شأن تنظيم اتحادات الطلبة - LOL

أثيرت في الآونة الأخيرة من قبل المجاميع الطلابية داخل وخارج الكويت ضجة سببها موافقة اللجنة التشريعية على الإقتراح بقانون في تنظيم اتحادات الطلبة، وجاورت هذه الضجة بيانات استنكار واستهجان واجتماع طلابي تنظيمي غير مسبوق في السنين السابقة رافضة للقانون المزمع اعتماده في مجلس الأمة الحالي. وكوني قد تخرجت مؤخرا، فوجدت من الضروري الدخول في تفاصيل هذا القانون للذين أمضوا سنينا طويلة خارج المقاعد الدراسية والذين ليس لديهم الماما كاملا بطبيعة العمل الطلابي، وهنا أنا لا أسقط على نفسي المعرفة الشاملة بهموم الطلبة لكنني أكتب من تجربة دراسية، وفهمي البسيط لبنود القانون من وجهة نظر طالب سابق، لا أكثر. 

وكمعلومات أولية، فهذا القانون قد قدمه خمسة نواب وهم: نبيل الفضل، يوسف الزلزلة، عبدالله الطريجي، عبدالله معيوف وخليل عبدالله، وقد نشرت جريدة أجيال نص الإقتراح في يوم ٢٤\١١\٢٠١٤

في بادئ الأمر، يجب التنويه بأن هذه الضجة المؤخرة ليست الأولى، فسبقتها مثيلتها عند تقديم الإقتراح، وقد شهدتها شخصيا في قاعة المؤتمرات بفندق في سان فرانسيسكو، عند سؤال أحد الطلبة أحد النواب عنه، وسأذكر تفاصيل ما حدث لاحقا.

ولآخذ كل مادة وأحلل فهمي لها وأثرها على العمل النقابي الطلابي الكويتي. 

ففي المادتين الثانية والثالثة، نجدها تحظر وجود فروع واتحادات خاصة خارج الكويت. أي أن الطلبة في أمريكا، وبريطانيا، وأستراليا، وكندا، والأردن والإمارات، ومصر وباقي الدول، لن يملكوا ممثلا شرعيا لهم، ولن يكون هنالك من يمثل مطالبهم وشكاويهم أمام الجهات الحكومية والأهلية المعنية بالكويت. وهذا الشيء لا يدخل العقل في ظل توهج الحركات الطلابية خارج الكويت، والإنجازات التي تحصدها الإتحادات بشهادة الحكومة، كسفير الكويت في الولايات المتحدة وغيره. وفي تجربتي الدراسية في أمريكا، وجدت قوة وفاعلية الإتحاد الوطني لطلبة الكويت فرع الولايات المتحدة، فهو ينظم الأنشطة الإجتماعية، والثقافية، ليجمع الطلبة المغتربين، خصوصا المؤتمر السنوي الذي أصبح وجهة لأكثر من ٣٠٠٠ طالب وطالبة، دون التطرق للدعم الكثير الذي يحصده من القطاع الخاص الكويتي، ليكون منارة العمل الطلابي أمام جميع الجنسيات الدراسية المغتربة في أمريكا، من أكبرها لأصغرها حجما وكما. وهو الممثل الذي يتدخل في حالات الطوارئ، وينسق ما بين الطلبة والملاحق الثقافية والسفارة الكويتية، ويمد يد العون للجميع دون استثناء. وكيف لا أستذكر العرس الديمقراطي الحقيقي الذي يحصل بانتخابات اتحاد أمريكا، وهو التنافس الشريف بين قوائم تمثل أفكار ورؤى وطنية، تعمل من أجل الطالب وتسابق بعضها البعض للظفر بشرف تمثيله، بتنظيم غير مشهود وجهود تطوعية وطنية مشكورة. وهذا كله قد ينسحب على العديد من طلاب الدول الأخرى. وهنا، لا أنكر وجود بعض الشوائب في العمل النقابي الطلابي، ولكن الممارسات الخاطئة تُقوَم بالممارسة الصحيحة والتوعية، واتاحة المجال لتصحيح المسار، لا بالتضييق كما هو وارد في هذا القانون. 

وفي المادتين الرابعة والخامسة، نجد بأن المشرع يحدد أغراض الإتحاد واختصاصاته، بغياب تام عن مشاكل الطالب وهمومه، ونوع من أنواع الوصاية على تصرفات اتحاده الذي يمثله، وكأن الطالب لا يستطيع تحديد أغراضه الخاصة واختصاصات اتحاده. هم أعضاء من مجلس الأمة من اقترحوا هذا القانون، ولا أعتقد بأنهم استشاروا أية جهة طلابية عند كتابتهم لهذا القانون، اذ لا يلامس القانون الواقع الطلابي الذي نعيشه في الكويت اليوم، فالحرية التي يعيشها الطالب اليوم، والحقوق التي كفلها الدستور له في وقتنا الحالي أنتج عزوفا واقعيا لشريحة كبيرة من الطلاب عن العمل النقابي، ولكن لي أن أتخيل الناتج الذي سيُخلق عند كبت الطالب بعد صدور قانون مثل هذا، وكأنهم يريدون استفزاز الطالب، ولنا بالتجاوب الطلابي الموحد في الأيام القليلة الماضية مثالا لما أعنيه. الطالب الذين لا يعتقدون أعضاء مجلس الأمة أنه قادر على ادارة نفسه كان وسيكون عاملا أساسيا في تغيير الكثير في هذا البلد. 

وفي المادة الثامنة، الطامة الكبرى، والتي تنص حرفيا، "يحظر على اتحاد الطلبة التدخل في السياسة …" وكأن اتحاد الطلبة خارج حسبة المجتمع الكويتي، وليس له دورا تاريخيا في الخلافات والأحداث السياسية التي حدثت على مر وجود الكويت، وفي تاريخنا الحديث، لا يسعني إلا وأن أستذكر دور القوائم والاتحادات بقانون حقوق المرأة السياسية، وقانون الدوائر الخمس، وغيرها من المواقف التي سطرت دور الطالب الكويتي الوطني خصوصا في الأحداث السياسية الأخيرة كمرسوم الضرورة بتغيير نظام الإنتخاب، والانتهاكات الحقوقية والدستورية التي عصفت بالكويت. وهنا أسترجع الموقف المضحك الذي شهدته في مؤتمر اتحاد أمريكا في سان فرانسيسكو. ها هنا النائب الدكتور خليل عبدالله (أحد مقدمي الاقتراح) يجيب على سؤال الطالب على منبر اتحاد أمريكا، وأمام صالة مليئة بالطلبة، وفي ندوة سياسية تضم عددا من الشخصيات السياسية، والدكتور يروج لقانونه، ويتعالى صوته، مستجديا الهتاف أمام جمهورا واعيا من الطلبة من المتوقع أن عدده قد فاق كل من حضر جلسات مجلس الأمة الأخير كلها، وأتمنى من الإتحاد الوطني أن يعرض الندوة لكي يرى الناس ما موقع عضو مجلس الأمة الحالي أمام هامة وطنية كمشاري العصيمي، الحاضر بنفس الندوة والجمهور. وأعتقد أن الدكتور خليل عبدالله قد غاب عن باله وعي الطلبة، ونسي أنه لولا نشاط اتحادات الطلبة السياسي لما كان في هذه الندوة، فكيف يجرمها بقانونه؟ (قانونه يجزي الاتحاد المتدخل بالسياسة بعقوبة قد تصل إلى ٥ سنوات بالمادة ٣٥).  

ويتجلى غياب الوعي بمقترحي القانون  في المواد ١٢ و١٩ و٢٠ من القانون، واللاتي حددت سن مؤسس وعضو مجلس ادارة الاتحاد بما لا يقل عن ٢١ وسنة، وهنا أقيسها على نفسي، فأنا ولله الحمد تخرجت من الجامعة بعمر ال٢٠ سنة، والذي يعني أنني في كل مسيرتي الدراسية لا أستطيع أن أكون عضوا في مجلس ادارة الاتحاد. وفي المادة ال٢٠، حددت مدة مجلس الإدارة بمدة ٣ سنوات، فهي تتوقع من الطلبة الأعضاء أن يتأخروا بدراستهم حتى سن ال٢٤ سنة لإكمال المدة، على سبيل المثال. هل خفي عنهم أن الطالب يدخل الجامعة بعمر ال١٨ عادة؟ وتستمر المهزلة في تحديد الصوت الواحد في الإنتخابات، وكأن "الحدث الإستثنائي" الذي حصل لإنتخابات مجلس الأمة يحب أن ينقاس ويطبق على كل حدث ديمقراطي في الكويت من جمعيات تعاونية ونفع عام ونوادي رياضية وقد نراها بانتخابات مجالس المدارس ومدراء المحادثات الجماعية في الواتسآب، ولا أعتقد أن هذا الجزم على نظام الصوت الواحد هو نتاج نجاح العملية الإنتخابية بل هو اثبات موقف سلطوي كأنه عناد الطفل الذي يريد أن يفرض قوانين لعبته على كل أطفال الفريج. لم ألتق بأي شخص لديه فهم بسيط بالمفاهيم الديمقراطية الخاصة بالإنتخابات لا يقول بأن نظام القوائم والتصويت لمجموعة فكرية هو السبيل للديمقراطية الحقيقية، ولكننا نرى أناس يريدوننا أن نكفر بالديمقراطية والعملية الإنتخابية بإطار دستوري مشوه. 

وفي المواد ١٣ و٢٣ و٢٧ و٣٠ و٣١ تتبين آلية التقييد والجهة المقيدة، فالنقابة أو الإتحاد الطلابي تتولى هموم الطلبة عند الجهات التعليمية المختصة، وفي الكثير من الأحيان تكون المخاصمة ضد قرارات وزارة التعليم العالي، ولكن في المواد السالفة الوزارة هي المتحكم بكل شيء. فهي من تملك تنظيم الإنتخابات واصدار تراخيص التأسيس، والحرمان من التأسيس، والإعتراض أو وقف ما جاء بمحاضر اجتماعات مجلس إدارة الإتحاد، وحل مجلس الإدارة و سحب الترخيص، بقرارات غير قابلة للطعن أمام القضاء. فبمزاجية الوزير أو المسؤول تسلب ارادة الطلاب، بلا محاسبة ولا حق رد الإعتبار، لتصبح الحركة الطلابية مُسيرة. 

بهذا القانون سبعة وثلاثين مادة، معظمها تمثل سبة بوجه الحركة الطلابية النيرة، ولذلك رأينا الجهود تتظافر من الكثير القوائم والإتحادات بمختلف توجهاتها الفكرية ومؤسساتها العلمية معارضة هذا التقييد والإسفاف بمقدرة الطلبة ودورهم التاريخي بالكويت وخارجها. ومن هنا، أرجو أن تنجح الجهود هذه بايقاف ونسف هذا القانون. وأنا لست ضد تنظيم العملية النقابية الطلابية، فيجب اقرار قانونا ينظمها ولكن بالمزيد من الحريات والثقة التي يستحقها الطالب في مؤسسات التعليم العالي. 

لتتبارك الجهود الطلابية المبذولة حاليا، وليتم التنسيق الفعال والمؤثر بين كافة الجهات المعنية المتضررة لصد القانون، ولنلتم جميعا خلف الطلبة والطالبات لتحقيق مطالبهم المستحقة أمام مؤسسات كنت أعتقد في يوم من الأيام أنها الحصن المنيع أمام انتهاك الحريات، ولكنها تحالفت لتضييق ما تبقى للكويت من نفحات عام ٦٢. 

*لست قانونيا، فقد يكون أنني أسأت فهم المواد سالفة الذكر وحيثياتها، لكنني كتبت عن فهمي الشخصي للمواد.

A Memoir of an Unemployed Kuwaiti

Hello, my name is Ali Boshehri and I’m an unemployed Kuwaiti in Kuwait. I like the term unemployed as it, I believe, defines me perfectly in a country filled with ambiguous nicknames and acronyms. At a corner there is a fashionista/o, at another there is a professional photographer, and at another there is a cupcake specialist; all of which trying to fill a void of creativity established systematically by Kuwait.

I’m not here to say that I am the most creative, innovative or driven person in Kuwait nor am I indicating that my situation is an individual result of the tumultuous system of this place, but on the contrary, I am trying to highlight, through this, the hardships that youth, like me, are going through when they successfully complete their degree requirements and receive their diplomas.

Advice, here and there, from almost everybody, following the question that is always asked: “Did you get a job? What are you applying to?” The most excruciating of such questions is: “Who is your Wasta?” It is as if it is impossible to gain a good working place, matching one’s ambitions, without such personality of influence to ease the path, uncaring of the missed opportunities of others in the way that may be more qualified for such a position.

I am one of many. Many who are average Kuwaitis with good degrees, arriving from advanced societies like the United States or the United Kingdom, with high hopes of change, and great desire to conquer the system and fight for the principle of proven abilities and high potential. And then, to be stunned by those innocent questions, the unorganized government authorities/agencies around the country, or, to the politically aware, the statement of the Prime Minister about the corruption and bribe-ridden government, a Prime Minister whom is the bearer of a mere elementary school degree.

Many of my like have been unemployed for months and maybe years, compared to my humble two weeks of unemployment. I, on the other hand, may gain employment in the next week, or month, depending on the current market for Civil Engineers. But what is unemployment in Kuwait, the country of wonders? Getting a job in Kuwait doesn’t ensure employment. I can register in a company of a relative and get the governmental allowance of 750 KWD (an encouragement to Kuwaitis to work in the private sector) whilst staying in bed all morning. I can also get quick employment at a ministry and go to work every morning, only to drink tea and read the newspaper or surf Twitter. Why is the lack of effective productivity in Kuwait a surprise? Why are we stunned by the disproportionate number of expats, of different nationalities, in Kuwait if compared to the number of nationals? They do all the work and we, the Kuwaitis, sit in our luxurious desks and beautiful cars, all the while, paying the hidden tax of luxury.

I am not here to blame the Kuwaiti for the lack of productivity, because I truly know that if I was to be employed in, for example, a ministry, and try to work as hard as I can, and then to see that my work is gone unnoticed, if not, in some cases, punished, I will be like the mainstream way of living the work life, because that’s how people work. Our way of life is the direct result of a failed system, and we are only to blame for not doing anything about it, for being neutral and happy with our short-term pleasures.

The macro magnitude of the problem of unemployment in Kuwait is loud to deafening proportions, but nobody is listening or even believing. By 2020, which is in five years, we’re hitting a 157,000 wall of unemployed individuals, if the current employment system persists. In 15 years, this number is to increase to 410,000. The latter number is the number of the current Kuwaiti workforce, in its entirety, both in the public and private sector.[1] This time, last year, Kuwait had about 17,000 unemployed individuals of 2-year and 4-year degrees. And just to be clear, an unemployed individual is a person whom, in the last four weeks, has actively been seeking a job.

Anyhow, I’m bored. To the potential employers out there, consider this to be a job application. What would you want more in a Kuwaiti employee? Here I am exercising my short unemployment in average, and I’d say productive writing in a café next to a mosque in the middle of a roundabout. And that is, if and only if, the firms in the UAE or Qatar do not offer me better jobs.

And finally, coinciding with the current celebrations, I’ll put forth the famous supplication, “May Kuwait never change.”

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[1] Altaleea.com/?p=10302

Thank You For F***ing Up

I regularly refrain from writing posts that aren't in the same mood as most of what is written in this blog, but today and tomorrow are different days. They're days that mark significant occasions and happenings which need a moment to be reflected upon and written about.

I do not mean to put such a writing at a higher value than anything and/or anybody. I just mean to write.

This morning, as I was camped in my Hartfordian apartment after the infamous East Coast blizzard, Hezbollah made a strategic assault against Zionist Military targets within occupied Lebanon. This event brought joy to my heart as I was heartened by the liveliness of the Opposition against the Zionist Entity in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Such joy shouldn't overshadow my own opposition to the presence of Hezbollah on Syrian grounds, if by any chance Syrian civilians are affected.

It's just that any assault to Zionist enterprises is, to me, a valid, legitimate effort in the march against Zionist aggression in Arabian territories.

Overlapping this event was the Kuwaiti delegation's turn at the Human Rights Council to answer to the 21st Universal Periodic Review. It's a means to review the Human Rights situation by the international community in each of the United Nations member states. The review, to say the least, was quite frustrating. Here were Kuwaiti government officials, led by a minister, heaping praise to the role of Kuwait in Human Rights and creating this angelic picture of a country where everyone is happy and no violations occur. "Children are in schools," whereas in reality, at least 600 children are without education whatsoever, and "there are no freedom of speech violations," whereas it is almost unheard of in Kuwait for a day to go by without a popular hashtag being created demanding the freedom of a Twitter user, amongst many other governmental allegations, which can be easily refuted.

Oh, and I almost forgot, a Kuwaiti official stated to the international community that the illegal aliens community in Kuwait, according to her, and better known, the Stateless (Bedoons), are better treated by Kuwait than any other country. Her evidence probably didn't include pictures of children selling roses at traffic lights and watermelons at roundabouts in broad daylight, instead of probably being in school.

Countries with respectable human rights records quickly came to refute such statements and asking for much more work in Kuwait, thanks greatly to the shadow reports presented by the Kuwaiti civil society. I only remember Saudi Arabia and Swaziland praising the human rights efforts in Kuwait. Surprise surprise.

One would think that maybe Kuwait would want to portray some sort of respect to what it says, at least until the review ends, but no. Kuwait continues to become a human rights joke by kidnapping a famous Twitter user from his house, at night, for stating an opinion. (No one really knows his location nor the alleged indictment until now).

Mohammad Al-Ajmy, better known as Bu 3asam, is held in forcible custody without being granted any rightful insurances which he should enjoy per the Kuwaiti constitution and THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Yes, the same declaration that falls under the Human Rights Council, the same declaration which Kuwait was trying to prove its adherence to just hours earlier.

Al-Ajmy, a member of the National Committee for Monitoring Violations, is under arrest for stating an opinion. The same thing I'm doing right this moment and the same thing Kuwaitis were, for the last 50+ years, doing without fearing arrest or retaliation by government forces. Al-Ajmy, a person I don't even follow on Twitter and a member of a tribe for which I have no connection to whatsoever. Al-Ajmy, a person whom I personally saw in a humble gathering protesting the arrest of other political detainees and was joyfully recounting accounts of his other escapades with police forces. Al-Ajmy, a person I'm sure won't be effected by the scare tactics of our police forces is a blatant example of the lack of certain human rights standards in Kuwait and the multiple violations of the police and the government.

What makes Al-Ajmy special to me, personally, is the principles he held and continues to hold. He is the embodiment of what I see as a perfect Kuwaiti who suffers for the cause of opposing the government without ever changing stances or settling for compromises. And many others are suffering as well in Kuwaiti prisons as the Kuwaiti delegation enjoys the weather of Geneva and cites lie after lie in a whimsical propagandist effort.

To whom it may concern, 
WE HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. Kuwait is not angelic in any way possible. Our constitution, which offers minimum human rights standards, is not even being minutely implemented. We, as Kuwaitis, are heading into a new era. An era of fear and political crackdowns. An era where the country fails in all development fronts yet excels in the tactics of breaking up demonstrations and how to raid houses and arrest political targets. 

And this is amongst many many other failures and violations. 

Yours,
Ali

And finally, tomorrow marks a very interesting day in recent history. A day I won't celebrate. One of my favorite books "Thank You For Smoking" was released as a movie :(. It should've been named "Thank You For Fucking Up!"

#FreeBu3asam!

And It Starts

A new city, a new way of life, a new year. A new everything. 

The desperation seen on his eyes was obvious. The puffed, darkened bubbles of skin underneath fainting the emergence of the wrinkles bordering them. He hadn't slept for a while. He wanted to know the answer but nothing is to be let on. He had no way of knowing anything for certain.

The setting wasn't set for such a sad appearance. He was in the best of dishdashas, dashing out Armani cufflinks on a stylish light blue shirt contrasting the navy blue of his attire. An ironed chma'3 shaping to a perfect nasfa. Winter was always his fashionable season.

The years of play were to be forgotten, but how is he to convince an angelic woman of his repentance? She was the embodiment of everything he had no taste for a few months ago, but. There is always a but.

But she now owned him and her decision was the defining point of the newly acquired start, the clean slate he is to build everything on top, everything pure and magnificent. The yes or no are which would elate or devastate him.

Till the day this doesn't become new, I'll stop.