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Kuwaitis to Boycott American Tourism
By
AbdulRahman Saad, IOL Kuwait Correspondent
KUWAIT,
May 14 (IslamOnline) – Many Kuwaitis plan to boycott the United
States and Britain this summer for their annual leave.
Kuwaiti
nationals contacted by IslamOnline gave three reasons for their
boycott. The first is for the breaches of human rights of Arabs
and Muslims living in or visiting the U.S. Many complained of abuse
and suspicion.
Many
Kuwaiti students in the U.S. have returned after September 11
following mistreatment from the authorities and a wave of racist and
hatred crimes which continue to date.
The
second reason is due to the American foreign policy that has not
handled the Palestinian crisis with wisdom. The U.S. supports the
Zionist aggression on the Palestinian civilians and even provides a
political and legal cover for them, said the Kuwaitis.
The
Kuwaiti’s loathing of American foreign policy shows in their
daylight burning of the American flag during demonstrations that broke
out April 9 supporting the Palestinian people. It was the first time
this has happened since the Kuwaiti liberation war after the brief
Iraqi invasion in November 1991.
The
third reason behind the boycott is the ugly face that the U.S. showed
during its “extermination” war in Afghanistan which led to the
death of many Kuwaiti nationals and the imprisonment of 12 Kuwaitis
and hundreds of Gulf residents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many were
transferred to the Guantanamo base in Cuba.
Due
to the pressure of the Kuwaiti people, the United States agreed to
allow a Kuwaiti delegation to visit the base to see how the prisoners
are being treated.
“My
family and I are used to traveling every summer especially to
Egypt,” said Reem Al Rashid, adding that they do that to escape the
soaring temperatures during the summer in Kuwait and because there are
no entertainment areas in Kuwait.
Another
Kuwaiti resident Khaled Al Kandari said that he is used to travel with
his family every year to the U.K. or the U.S. because of the tourist
attractions in these countries. “This year we are changing our
destination to east Asia and especially to Malaysia as my father’s
friend advised us to visit this Muslim country. He said it was
advanced and was famous for its beautiful scenery. It is also closer
and cheaper than the U.S., where we fear we may be harassed,”
he said.
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