Kuwait our only homeland
many people were surprised by the attitude of some who refused to invite iraqi singers such as kazim al-saher and others to sing in the kuwait opera house because of their stances related to kuwait and in support of the tyrant saddam hussein when the latter occupied our homeland and destroyed our precious and beloved country. you can understand the positions of the two sides. one side says we, after 27 years, must forget and forgive despite our wound. the other side says they will not object to forgiving; but how can they forget the wound which is still bleeding especially while the parents, brothers and sisters of the martyrs are still alive and remember what had happened? how will they feel when they watch those who supported their enemy, who killed their sons and made them homeless in various parts of the world? how can they stand watching them dance on their wounds while on the kuwaiti stage? each side has its own reasons. i am not here to support one point of view over the other, but i will try to point out a position through the following words: nothing in life is more important than a person’s belongingness to his homeland which protects him, preserves his dignity, treats him from sickness, makes his life happy, provides him with opportunities to work and make a family, to produce, to be creative, and finally to be buried in the land after a long or short life. we do not know the value of health unless we lose it, so is the case with the homeland. we do not know the value and importance of the homeland unless we lose it. this was what happened to us on the day we lost it. we lost our dignity, security, and tranquility, not to mention money. we also sustained physical and psychological losses. the tens of millions of refugees scattered in hundreds of camps around the world know the meaning of losing the homeland, that terrible sense of nonexistence, and the separation from the dear body that contained everyone safely, as well as to suddenly, within hours, become trapped in an air-vacuumed room, filled with a sense of non-existence, and worry over himself, his beloved family and his people. my colleague iqbal al-ahmad wrote an article in which she asked every person who loves another country more than our country, who belongs to a place other than our country, and who prefers to live and enjoy the beauty of life in a place other than our country, to get out of our country. some responded by saying they really do not belong to this country and do not prefer to live here for one reason or another, but as they told me in their messages, they are unable to do anything. they have no money, no other available country, and no guarantee that they will succeed or be happier outside kuwait in the country that they chose as a homeland. my answer was simple - i and a handful of businessmen will set up a fund to help them. anyone who wants to leave kuwait has to hurry up and leave. the cost of their one-way ticket to any place they want to go will be paid for. they will also be paid a considerable sum of money to start their life there and find a job, provided they obtain the consent of that state and denounce their kuwaiti nationality. when they heard my answer, their tone changed, and they became reluctant and gave numerous excuses. their common sense told them that kuwait as a homeland cannot be replaced by any other place.
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