Stories about Kuwait
Kim Kardashian Does Kuwait and Bahrain
Kim Kardashian completed a visit to Kuwait and is now visiting Bahrain. Here's Brian Whitaker's take on her visit.
Kuwait: Who is Dumping Garbage Outside My Home?
Mark from Kuwait complains about an empty plot of land behind his home is being turned into a garbage dump.
Why is the GCC Quiet about Gaza?
“Gulf countries awfully quiet about Gaza,” tweets Foreign Policy editor Blake Hounshell. Lebanese journalist Antoun Issa adds: @antissa: Amazing how eager GCC are to arm Arabs to fight each other, while disappearing completely when it comes to Palestine. #Gaza The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is made up of Bahrain, Qatar,...
Arab World: What will Change with Obama's Re-Election?
Barack Obama has won a second term as US President but how does he fare among netizens across the Arab world? Here's a snippet of the conversation on Twitter following his re-election. Reactions were divided and while many were not pleased with the US foreign policy in the region, others were happy Obama won.
Anonymous Twitter Account Leads Major Protests in Kuwait
Tens of thousands showed up in the areas of Mishref and Sabah Al-Salem protesting the Kuwaiti Amir's amendment of the voting law which allows a citizen to vote for one candidate instead of four. What is interesting though is that an anonymous Twitter account is the one deciding dates of marches and meeting points. Mona Kareem shares Twitter reactions to the march, in addition to photographs and videos.
Egypt: Advice to Protesting Kuwaitis
As Kuwaitis embarked on their largest ever protest to denounce changes to the electoral law, passed by the country's hereditary ruler while the Parliament was dissolved, Egyptians kept themselves busy on Twitter, dishing advice to them on what to do and not to do.
Kuwait: The Country's Biggest Protest?
Tear gas and stun grenades were used to disperse a protest in Kuwait against changes to the electoral law. The Sunday march attracted about 150,000 out of the country's population of 3 million. Media outlets considered this number to be the biggest in the small Gulf emirate's history.
Kuwait: “Demonstration will be met with Force”
Anti-government protests are planned in Kuwait tomorrow. Ahmad Al Kandare tweets [ar]: @AhmadAlkandare: Kuwaiti foreign minister: “We call upon the Syrian regime not to oppress and prevent peaceful demonstrations.” The Government of Kuwait: “Tomorrow's demonstration is prohibited and will be faced with force.”
Kuwait: Shotgun Used Against Stateless Protesters
On the International Day of Non-Violence, the stateless community of Kuwait decided to demand their right to citizenship. More than 3,000 protesters took part in the protest, which was repressed with rubber bullets, smoke bombs, tear gas, sound bombs, and for the first time shotguns.
Lebanese Tourism Pays the Ultimate Price
Recent political upheavals in the region and kidnappings in Lebanon have made tourists, mainly Gulf nationals, flee the country. Lebanese and Gulf netizens react to the development.
Kuwait: The People Know Better
Kuwaiti netizens are expressing their disdain for an old-age tradition which gives the head of the tribe, or the Shaikh [Sheikh] absolute power. In a break with this tradition, they are tweeting under the hash tag #الشعب_أبخص [ar], which translates to "The People Know Better."
MENA: Bridge Blog for Maghreb and Arab Gulf States
A Moroccan-American blogger Samia Errazzouki and a stateless blogger from Kuwait Mona Kareem have joined hands to start a new blog which tackles the stereotypes between the Maghreb (North Africa) and the Gulf. The aim is to start a conversation to bridge differences between them.
Kuwait: Stateless Community Continues Protesting
The stateless community in Kuwait (Bedoon) has been protesting for their rights to documents and citizenship since February 2011 and netizens are turning to social media to make their voices heard. Friday's protests spilled on to Saturday and Sunday as the call for rights turned into a confrontation with the police.
Kuwait: Facebook Contest to Promote Child Safety
A mall in Kuwait is holding a Facebook contest to promote child safety in cars. Mark blogs about the initiative here.
Kuwait: Factory Fire
Blogger Mathai from Kuwait writes about a summer fires he saw in an industrial area. He shares a photograph.
Kuwait: Unconstitutionally Elected Parliament
Kuwaiti blogger Mona Kareem discusses the latest political developments after the Constitutional Court ruled the parliament was elected unconstitutionally. “So is the court acting political? This can only be fully read in relevance to the steps that will be taken by authorities in the coming days. If authorities re-dissolve and...
Proposals for Union of Arab Gulf States Prompt Concern
The governments of the Gulf are discussing transforming the current Gulf Cooperation Council into an EU-style union. The move comes in an atmosphere of tension caused by the Arab uprisings and Iran's growing influence. As a first step, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might seek closer union.
Kuwait: Bedoon Light Candles for Freedom
As a protest against discriminatory state policies and arbitrary arrests, the stateless community in Kuwait (Bedoon) decided to light candles in their houses and post pictures of them on Twitter.
Kuwait: Call to Kill the “Infidel” Twitter User
A Kuwaiti Twitter user has been detained, pending investigation, over a tweet in which he allegedly insulted Prophet Mohammed. The issue is taking a sectarian twist in Kuwait as the Twitter user Hamad Al-Naqi denies the charges, claiming that his account was hacked, while others charge that it is a Shiite attack on Sunni Islam. Meanwhile, a protest was held calling for the Twitter user to be killed for his alleged blasphemy.
Kuwait: Could a Hash Tag Send Twitter Users to Prison?
As in any country with netizens using Twitter, hash tags are created every day, every hour and somne times even every few minutes. In Kuwait, one user created a hash tag #بطارية (battery in Arabic) and all hell broke loose. Kuwaiti blogger Abdullatif AlOmar tells us why.
Kuwait: Art Exhibition Shut Down for “Controversial” Content
Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin is in shock after her exhibition of paintings was shut down without an explanation. Reports say that men walked into the show, three hours after its opening, and took the paintings down, saying they had received a complaint over the content of the paintings. Netizens react to the censorship of art in this post by Mona Kareem.
