Kuwait: Sit-in to Rename “Journalism Street” After Al-Saleh Planned · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

Kuwaiti journalists are planning to stage a sit-in tonight (April 27) to demand the renaming of “Journalism Street” after the late Mohammed Mousaed Al-Saleh, who was one of the very well known Kuwaiti sarcastic columnists, who wrote for Al-Qabas newspaper for years, criticizing different political and social aspects found in everyday life.
His career in journalism involved establishing Al-Watan newspaper. Al-Saleh won the admiration of a lot of readers in Kuwait for the way he portrayed the Kuwaiti mentality. He had also won the Arab Media Award, from Dubai, for his long career in media and journalism.
This Sunday, netizens remembered his achievements and tweets grew in momentum asking the government to name what is commonly known as “Journalism Street” to “Mohammed Mousaed Al-Saleh Street” in tribute for what he had achieved for Kuwaiti journalism. The Municipal Minister, Fadhel Safar, has refused to take this suggestion – a decision that was received with condemnation by a lot of Kuwaitis, especially through Twitter using the hashtag #ShaikhAlKotab (The Doyen of Writers).
Ali Khaja, a young activist and columnist tweeted:
A picture of the late Kuwaiti writer Mohammed Mousaed Al-Saleh. Image posted in blog of Kuwaiti writer Ibrahim Al-Mulaifi.
Nabila Muzaffar, a notable female Kuwaiti voice on Twitter wrote:
Faisal Al-Qinai, head of the Journalists Association and columnist for Al-Seyassah newspaper also used Twitter to express his disagreement with the minister's decision:
Mishari Buyabis, a Twitter activist who is best known for his continuous criticism of the Kuwaiti Prime Minister which got him investigated by the State Security Police months ago, wrote:
Reactions against the Minister's decision were also expressed in a derogatory manner, by making fun of his Persian roots. Abdulwahab Al-Essa, Al-Watan TV anchor, mocked on Twitter Minister Safar's Persian accent, to express his refusal of the Minister's decision. Al-Issa once got himself in trouble when he described the Saudi national football team as “the remains of pilgrims”  – because most of the squad members are black. He tweeted:
The last part of the tweet mocks the pronunciation of those with Persian roots, as well as their broken Arabic.
Another young Kuwaiti man, Khaled Al-Mutawa, mocked the minister's Persian background on Twitter, using the Kuwaiti stereotype that has always been practiced against Kuwaitis of Iranian background, describing them as being “bakers”. Al-Mutawa wrote:
Kuwaiti blogger and activist Ibrahim Al-Mulaifi [ar], on the other hand, chose to express his refusal of the decision to rename the street, by inviting people to a sit-in at Journalism Street today to demand naming it after Al-Saleh. He writes: