The Study of Kuwait and Israel Relationship in Terms of Religious Propaganda

By Shambhu Sharan

Jim Haynes & Mitch Land Mayborn School of Journalism University of North Texas JOUR 5200 Spring 2011

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1. Introduction of Kuwait Kuwait is located in the Middle East, surrounded by the Persian Gulf on the east, Iraq to the north, and Saudi Arabia to the south. Mostly people follow Islam as a religion. According to cia.gov, Kuwait has 85% Muslims and 15% others. Its total population is 2,789,132 as of 2010. Geographically it is smaller than Israel. Although Arabic is the official language of Kuwait, many people speak English. The capital of Kuwait is Kuwait City. Kuwaits currency is Kuwaiti Dinar. One Dinar is equal to $3.58 USD. Petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding, and food processing are the main industries in Kuwait. Kuwaits main natural resources are natural gas and petroleum. According to the cia.gov Factbook, although the country is mostly desert, Kuwait is a wealthy country with 9% of the worlds crude oil reserves. Kuwait has shortage of low-skilled laborers. People from Asia and other countries are employed there. Kuwaits legal system is based on Islamic law. Kuwait has a monarchy system. 1. Kuwaits relationship with the U.S. and allies The diplomatic relations with the U.S. is stronger after the Gulf War. Kuwaits diplomatic relationship with Palestine is better now. Kuwaits citizens and leaders condemned Israels attack on the Gaza. Kuwait supports the fight of the U.S. against

Sharan terrorism. The U.S. helped to liberate Kuwait from Iraq after Saddam Husseins invasion.

According to peopledaily.com, Kuwait suspended its relation with Palestine after the Palestinians sided with Iraq during the 1991 Gulf war triggered by Iraqs invasion of Kuwait in 1990. 2. Introduction of Israel Israel, a parliamentary democratic country, has no formal constitution. The country has different political parties. It is located in the Middle East, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, surrounded by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. According to the statistics published in CIAs World Factbook of year 2010, Israels total population is 7,353,985 and country size is 20,770 square kilometers. The country is slightly larger than New Jersey. Israel has 76.4% Jewish, 16.8% Muslim, and 6.8% others. Although Hebrew is the official language of the country, Arabic is used officially for Arab minorities. English is a widely used foreign language. The capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Israel is a developed country. Economically, Israel depends on import of crude oil, grains, raw materials and military equipment. Its natural resources are natural gas, ores, clays, sands and timber. The countrys climate is hot and dry. CIAs Factbook says, Israel has a blend of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and in personal and religious matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems. The president is the chief of state and prime minister is the head of government. 3

Sharan Israel is a small and democratic country in the Middle East surrounded by enemies. Israel has the strong military power to secure from the terrorists. Israel has nuclear weapons and fourth largest air force in the world. More than six million Jews were murdered in the World War II. This is the reason western countries helped Jews in creating homeland Israel (Kumar, 117). There is history behind Israel-Palestinian conflict. Kumar says, Before the region was Israel and Palestine, it was known as Canaan who shared Mesopotamian civilization. The Israel and Palestine derive from two people who settled in the region about 12centuary B.C. Jews believes God gave them this land. Jews settled in the interior hills and Palestinian settles in coastal plains. Jews established dynasty near Jerusalem. Jews defeated the Palestines around 1000 B.C. (Kumar, 118). Israel and Palestine were established based on Jewish and Islamic laws. 3. Relationship of Kuwait with Middle East and Israel Kuwait tries to keep its good relationship with most of the Middle East because it is a Muslim country. But, Kuwait also has friendly relationships with the U.S. allies. According to Financial Times report, The US state department notes that it provides assistance in the military, diplomatic and intelligence arenas, while also supporting efforts to block financing of terrorist groups. In 2005, Kuwaiti security forces were involved in an exchange of fire with local extremists, which resulted in fatalities on both sides, the first incident of its kind in the countrys history. Kuwait has a friendly relationship with Israel.

Sharan After the 1991 liberation from the Iraq invasion, Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as punishment for Yassir Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organizations alliance with Saddam Hussein, Financial Times reporter Matt Kennard says. Kuwait has no good relationship with Iran and Iraq. Observers hope the US withdrawal from Iraq will concentrate minds and lead the neighbors to resolve these problems, says Financial Times reporter David Blair. 4. Economy Kuwaits economy has been growing rapidly. According to the report published in Arabianbusiness.com, Kuwait Project Co, the biggest privately owned investment owned firm, saw net profit for the quarter surge 300 percent to KD8.1m (29.2m), the company said Sunday. Net operating profit rose 22 percent to KD18.2 m. 5. Kuwait, Palestine, and Israel Relationship Kuwaits relationship with Israel has been changing recently due to Palestinian issues. Palestine news agency Maan reported on May 1, 2011 that Kuwaits Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Sabah criticized Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because Israels policies had jeopardized the peace process. Sabah said that the Kuwaiti government is committed to an Arab peace plan initiated by Saudi Arabia. According to CNN report, The Palestinian territories have not seen the kind of demonstrations as in many Arab countries, but the Fatah leaders of the

Sharan Palestinian Authority have been under criticism since Al-Jazeera published secret papers claiming to reveal that Palestinian officials were prepared to make wideranging concessions in negotiations with Israel. Negotiations toward a resolution of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict have since collapsed. Palestinian protests, largely in support of Egypt and Tunisia, were generally small and poorly attended, and in some cases the Hamas rulers of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority rulers of the West Bank actively tried to stifle protests. The split between Hamas and Fatah hampers internal change in the territories, although calls for political change are growing louder among Palestinians. Large-scale protests have failed to materialize as many Palestinians believe their problem remains Israel. 6. Religious Propaganda Uses The Palestine media has been promoting Islamic religious propaganda by using extremist leaders like Sabah. On the other side, the Israeli press promotes Jewish religious sentiment. Fred Gedrich, writer for frontpagemag.com says, Enemies view the Jewish state as an illegal, Western imposition on Muslim soil and their hatred extends to the United States because, among other things it is viewed by most as the ultimate guarantor of Israels survival. Compared to other Arab countries which are undergoing internal protests due to economic crisis, Kuwait has few protests by some minority groups, as it is one of the richest Middle East countries with a small population. The protest is by the Bedouins who complain of discrimination by the government who has not given them greater rights, benefits, citizenship, and free health care.

Sharan In Kuwait the print and broadcast media is restricted by the government from reporting freely, criticizing the monarchy system of government and promoting democracy. The entire world populations do not know the real situation where media is suppressed in countries. For example, the Kuwaiti government closed Al-Jazeeras offices a few years ago. In November 2002 the Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Kuwait City Saad al Saeedi said he received a phone call from the information ministry, informing him that the office has been closed immediately and their accreditations have been withdrawn. Al Jazeera had aired extensive coverage of the police crackdown on a gathering held by the Kuwaiti opposition, said al Saeedi. It showed footage of police beating activists and aired interviews with members of the Kuwaiti opposition following the clashes in which four Kuwaiti members of parliament and a dozen citizens were hurt. Al Jazeera vowed to continue to cover Kuwaiti affairs with full professionalism and balance. Kuwaiti citizens face punishment by execution for adultery by women, and for theft the punishment is amputation. There is gender-based discrimination in the society, for example, males can marry more than one woman but the reverse is not allowed. Compared to Kuwait, Israeli society is more open. The U.S. is friendly with Kuwait and protected Kuwait from Iraqs invasion. The U.S used the term freedom to achieve acceptance of both sides for the 1991 Gulf War. In the Gulf War, the United States was able to claim that the totalitarian Iraqi dictatorship had invaded and was attempting to destroy the freely elected

Sharan democratic nation of Kuwait. Official U.S. source said little about actual lack of democracy (or womens rights) in Kuwait, although it was the key issue for those who opposed the war. In the aftermath of the victory in the desert, the failure to restore any semblance of democracy in Kuwait only serves to underscore this propaganda ploy (Jowett & ODonnell, 301). Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein claimed that Kuwait had done wrong by stealing Iraqi oil, and Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. Saddam Hussein used jihad- a holy war against the infidel because the American forces were foreign invaders who were drinking alcohol, eating pork, and practicing prostitution on the holy land of Islam. But he influences a small group of the Middle East Arab countries by his black propaganda tactics. Of course Palestine backed anyone who opposed Israel (Jowett & ODonnell, 302). Finally, Kuwait won the war with the help of the United States. 7. Religious Propaganda Many terrorist organizations misguide their believers in the name of Holy Scripture to fight against other religions. Arabic word Jihad means struggle or striving. In the Koran Jihad means striving on the path of God. Jihad doesnt mean killing people of other faiths. Recently a Muslim teenager who joined a terrorist group was trying to use suicide bombing because he was told he will go to heaven after killing people. He was injured but was saved. The boy admitted his mistake, asked forgiveness, and talked to BBC reporter and told how he joined the terrorist organization, Taliban.

Sharan According to BBC news report of April 18, Security officials in Pakistan say they now believe the vast majority of those involved in suicide bombings in the country are teenage boys, groomed by the Taliban. In April, two suicide bombers attacked a Pakistani shrine packed with thousands of devotees, killing scores of people. One of the attackers, 14-year-old Umar Fidal, survived the attack. Fidal told the BBC's Aleem Maqbool he regretted being involved in the bombing. Islam is a monotheistic religion beside Judaism and Christianity. In Arabic, Islam defines as submission to Allah or God. The religion was founded by Prophet. Many Arab countries follow Shariya, Islamic laws. Judaism developed from the Middle East. Islam was established after Judaism and Christianity. Muslim armed forces conquered Arabian peninsula and the Persian Empire. India was conquered by Muslim invaders and they converted Hindus to Muslims. Pakistan and India was divided on the basis of religion. The majority of people who followed Islam was declared as Pakistanis and was separated from India by the British. Some Indian Hindus and Pakistani Muslims still fight in the name of their religions. Propaganda is used by different religions to propagate their ideologies. People believe in their scriptures and try to follow moral principles. The specific media broadcasts to specific group radio listeners to spread their religions messages.

Sharan BBC uses the powerful lure of Islamic devotion to attract listeners in Arabic countries by broadcasting readings from Koran in its Arabic service (Jowett & ODonnell, 129). Richardson, Texas based Asian radio Funasia broadcasts Muslim prayers on Friday. The radio provides different religious programs at different time to attract the Hindu, Muslim, and Christian listeners. Those programs are sponsored by the respective faith groups. Propaganda was very much effective and successful to spread the religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. These religions used different strategies to achieve their goals. They all have relied on charismatic figures, heavy symbolism, a simple and incessant moral philosophy, and understanding of their audiences needs, Jowett and ODonnell says. In each case, the new religion had to find a way to replace the existing religious beliefs and to win over the minds and hearts of the populace (Jowett & ODonnell, 56). Christianity uses the cross, Islam the crescent moon, and Judaism the Star of David as their symbols. Different religions use different color and types of flags. Islam does not recognize the concept of secular authority, Jowett and ODonnell says. Fundamentalist Muslims use Islam as a means of achieving cultural and political goal of creating unity among the Arabic nations (Jowett & ODonnell, 56).

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Sharan Osama Bin Ladens Al Qaida attacked the World Trade Center on September 11 to terrorize the U.S. Saddam Hussein was executed in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by the U.S. militarys attack. The U.S. military attacked Afghanistan and Iraq to remove the Islamic extremist Taliban who restricted the education for females, restricted television viewing, radio listening, dancing, and the playing and singing nonreligious music (Jowett & ODonnell, 57). Religions can be used very effectively as propaganda vehicle for broader social and political purposes, Jowett & ODonnell, the authors of the propaganda and persuasion, says. The use of religion continues to be very important ingredient in modern propaganda practices. Religious ideology can also propagandize for the good of society (Jowett & ODonnell, 59). Catholics refer to the Bible and say the Bible criticizes homosexuality, gay marriage and abortion. Muslims do not accept idol worship, adultery, earning interest in business, and eating pork. Hindus believe in idol worship, casteism, sacred cow, holy river Ganges, and scriptures Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana. Christ and his followers used the shepherd and his flock, camels eye, seed on the ground, Fisherman, gesture to give an appealing emotional, powerful, and simple message to understand by the general public. (Jowett & ODonnell, 61). Nearly three centuries after the death of Christ the cross became the symbol of Christianity, but during that time, the use of the two curved intersecting lines symbolizing a fish was widely used (Jowett & ODonnell, 60-61).

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Sharan The advancement in technology gave momentum of mass communication. Martin Luther used printing press to print his sermons. Luther used oral speech to communicate and used the reinformation and counter-reinformation method. Luther said people can communicate directly with God without any middle person or institution. He used the sermon as music as an emotional appeal. His propaganda technique was successful. Japanese military used Shinto religion to win the war against Chinese during 1894-95. The Shinto believes King is living god and protecting king is protecting god. The Japanese military used the Shinto cult as a propaganda tactic to mobilize peoples support. People used to worship king as God in Nepal. When Gyanendra Singh, nephew of the late king Virendra Singh, became king people of Nepal believed Gyanendra killed his uncle and all his family to become king. He lost the trust of people and Nepal replaced monarchy with democracy. Religions use the media to infuse inferiority complex among people that everyone has defects and is a sinner. People have to go to their churches and confess mistakes in front of their churchs priest. Those who will believe in their particular messenger of God only they can go to heaven. Those who wont do it will go to hell; even people from other religions cant go to heaven. Dogmas and superstition are injected by imaginary stories by telling it is the Gods word written in the scriptures. Whenever there is some outbreak of disease religious leaders say this is caused by unnatural lifestyles so they use propaganda for the benefit of the society.

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Sharan Many people believe that by helping poor and needy people they serve God in human form. Some religions also say that if people are poor, it is God who made them to suffer and other people should not help them. Rich people think they did something good so God has given good life to enjoy. It is totally propaganda used by religious leaders for their self-interest. 8. Marxism, Religion and Propaganda Marxism is not a religion, but is a defective philosophy which was not implemented in the communist countries. Communist leaders used Marxism as a way of theorizing media, culture and communication. Marxism is considered as a political, social, economic, and philosophical critique of capitalism. Marxism is based on crude materialistic philosophy. Its goal is to enjoy whatever you get, depriving others. In the name of the defective theory, Marxism, one of the leaders of the Soviet Union killed more than 500,000 people and sent many to labor camps in Siberia. According to an Indian philosopher, P.R. Sarkar, Karl Marx never opposed spirituality, morality and proper conduct. What he said was directed against the religion of his time, because he perceived, understood, and realized that religion had psychologically paralyzed the people. Karl Marx preached that defective philosophy (Sarkar, 50). According to Sarkar, Marxism has following defects: (1) It believes in equality between human beings, which is only theoretical, and not possible in practice because no two individuals are alike, hence they cannot be equal. (2) This faith finds

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Sharan its field in the exploitation of poverty and hence it can only thrive in povertystricken areas. (3) It has no tolerance for religions or organizations. (4) Its goal is purely imaginary equality. (5) This faith exists on violence only. (Sarkar, 49) Lenin, Stalin and other communist leaders used propaganda to influence people to accept Marxism. These leaders propagated that they have a better theory than capitalism. Marxists criticized capitalism and tried to prove to the masses that they can solve the socio-economic problems. In communist countries, the media is controlled totally by the government. People of the world do not know the real situation. People are not allowed to speak against Marxism. Communist leaders used a slogan, Workers of the world unite. This attracted laborers to join their revolution. Media changed masses to think that Marxism is the best. It survived only due to the force of arms and constant booming. The constant propagation helped people to think that there must be some truth in what is being propagated. Communists were constantly broadcasting about their theory through radios. Due to media people were brainwashed. And at that stage it was very easy to inject incorrect ideas into their minds. Communist used propaganda to create their supporters, but communist cadres suffered from intellectual bankruptcy. Marxists propagated many theoretical ideas but they never thought about the practical application of their socio-economic approach. They killed many innocent people and sent countless others to concentration camps in the name of so-called ideology. Stalin killed hundreds of thousands of people instead of helping them by

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Sharan providing amenities for all. In the name of doing good for the masses he killed so many people (Sarkar, 59). 9. Summary Kuwait, a Muslim country, follows monarchy system and Islamic law of government. Kuwait has not been much affected by the unrest of the Middle East. Kuwait is friend of U.S. and U.S. allies Israel. Due to economic prosperity, strict government laws, and media suppression, general masses hold very few protests. Kuwait is a capitalist nation but not a democratic country. In future, Kuwait will also become a democratic country because of suppression of women and no equal rights for all the inhabitants of the country. Israel is a democratic nation and facing a lot of challenge from the neighboring Arab countries. Israel has only business relationship with the Arabs. The Arab world supports mostly Palestine because of Islam. Israel is a capitalist country. Materialist philosophy Marxism failed due to its own defects. Anti-capitalist and anti-religious ideology only survived due to propaganda and armed forces.

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Sharan APA References Arabianbusiness. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.arabianbusiness.com/kuwait-s-kipco-s-sees-q1-profit-surge-300-397204.html BBC. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13115660 CNN. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/22/mideast.africa.unrest/index. html?iref=allsearch CIA. (2011). Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/is.html Financial Times. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a738cde6-67d1-11e0-9138-00144feab49a.html ixzz1JyPmy3w0 Financial Times. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a738cde6-67d1-11e0-913800144feab49a,s01=1.html#axzz1JyKu8U1S Jowett, S. J. & ODonnell V. (2006). Propaganda and Persuation. (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.

Kumar, S. (2008). The Modernization of Islam: and the Creation of a Multipolar World Order. (1st ed.). Charleston: Booksurge. Kuna. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=212319 16

Sharan &Language=en Kuwait Times. (2010). Retrieved from http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/20101213131238826458. html LA Times. (2011). Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/03/kuwait-riot-policebreak-up-protest-by-statelessarabs.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef0147e326c04c970b

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