Iraq’s sectarian democracy

The Iraqi Parliament has refused to sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia for an exchange of prisoners and opposes Riyadh to have a similar pact with Tehran. It was quite expected as a result of the Al-Maliki government’s policies that obstruct Iraq’s relations with other Arab countries.

The reason given for this rejection was irritating. Sabah Al-Saedi, an Iraqi deputy said: “We’ll never approve a draft agreement that will result in exchanging terrorists with ordinary prisoners. We all believe that the Iraqi government would discuss with the UN secretary-general the issue of those supporting terrorism.”

The dimensions of this statement are very clear and this should encourage us to seek other options to win the release of Saudi prisoners in Iraq. The Iraqis have also accused that Saudi Arabia was not happy with their democracy. Actually Saudi Arabia is angry that more than a million Iraqis have become victims of its democracy while seven million have run away from the country. Killing of the identity and division of Iraq have become a reality. All this happened because of sectarian democracy introduced by Iraq’s enemies. The decision to reject the agreement with Saudi Arabia was taken to please Tehran. Al-Maliki’s government and the Iraqi Parliament are controlled directly by Iran.

The Kingdom had signed an agreement with the Iraqi justice minister about a year ago for the exchange of prisoners. The Parliament’s move proves that they do not want to receive their citizens while Saudi Arabia wanted to welcome its citizens despite the mistakes they have committed. This is the difference between their democracy and our humanitarian values.

— By Dr. Mutlaq S. Al-Motairy

How can we contain youth?

During the last three years and to be specific after the so-called Arab Spring there were serious discussions on how to contain youth. Many people and parties have been using young men and women to fight their battles in the region.

Some say the containment can be done politically either through political reforms or involving them in the political process. This was proposed in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq and Yemen and even in the Gulf countries and this shows that it is the main demand in the region. But I don’t think it is an ideal solution.

For me creating more job opportunities for young men and women to cut down unemployment rate is the best way.

In Egypt, it has been proved that youth have been used as fuel for every battle. They are divided and do not know the reality of incidents because they lack political awareness. They deal with events with frustration, retreat and boycott and this has nothing to do with politics.

The participation of youth in the referendum on the new Egyptian Constitution was poor. Many young men and women support the country’s military while many others oppose it. This again shows that creating jobs that require serious education is the best way to contain youth. It will not only bring stability to society but also prevent the youth from being enticed by terrorist groups.

— By Tariq Alhomayed

Lama escapes and others fall

On Nov. 12, 1996 a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight No. 763 collided with a Kazakh plane after it had taken off from New Delhi airport on its way to Dhahran. This worst midair crash resulted in the death of 349 passengers on the two aircraft.

People all over the world expressed their grief over the loss of innocent lives and expressed their condolences to their kith and kin. At the same time, there were heartless individuals who exploited the tragedy to make money as they stole valuables such as jewelry and watches belonging to the dead passengers from the crash site.

I remembered this incident while following up developments related to the death of Lama Al-Rouqi, a six-year-old Saudi girl falling into a bore well in Tabuk. Some people circulated rumors, saying Lama’s father created the story to get compensation. But the DNA tests conducted on Lama’s remains proved they belonged to her, disproving the claims of rumormongers who behaved like criminals and were as wicked as those Indian villagers who combed bodies of plane crash victims to steal valuables. Deterrent action must be taken against such criminals to safeguard the honor of human beings and the unity of society.

— By Lulu Al-Hobaishi

Plight of Palestinians in Yarmouk

When the Palestinians migrated to Syria following the1948 Catastrophe (Nakba), they received the best treatment like in any other Arab country. At that time Baath party was not ruling the country. Also when the Yarmouk camp was set up in 1957, the party was not in power. The Arab nationalist government in the country selected a suitable name for the camp reminiscent to the battle that lead to the spread of Islam to Syria.

Baath was not supposed to do anything different from what had been done by the previous regime with regard to the Palestinian refugees. There were calls for Palestine’s freedom everywhere. But instead of fighting for the liberation of Palestine, the party asked the Palestinians to fight for Syria. It established an organization named Saeqa, which played a big role in a number of Palestinian bodies like Popular Front and General Command.

In the meantime, the Palestinians underwent Syrianization. But the Syrian leadership was not happy with them. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem indicated that Palestinians misused the hospitality given to them by Syria.

The 20,000 Palestinians in Yarmouk live eating cats and dogs and face barrels of explosives. They are threatened to face death twice, first for rejecting to protect the national interests of Syria and the other for harboring hatred against Syrians.

— By Hazim Saghiyeh

Disparity in salaries

Disparity in salaries of employees is one of the major problems facing not only private companies but also many public institutions. This problem should be solved as quickly as possible because it represents a major point of conflict between such institutions and monitoring authorities.

Last week, the Shoura Council asked the Saudi Arabian Airlines to explain distribution of salaries among its employees after the airline allocated SR4.6 billion for salaries. The figure indicates that a Saudia employee will receive an average monthly salary of SR30, 000. Despite this huge salary, the airline’s employees have been complaining about low pays.

Why does the Shoura express its surprise over the average salary of SR30,000 without delving into details of salary scales? It should identify the highest and lowest salaries to find out the huge disparity. This applies to Saudia as well as other public organizations.

Why do they pay huge salaries to some top officials in government departments after recruiting them from the private sector? This has created an impression that salaries are paid in the Kingdom to distribute oil wealth without considering a person’s productivity. I am afraid if we continue paying huge salaries, we will encounter similar problems currently plaguing Greece.

— By Mohammed Al-Abbas

Mental illnesses on the rise

The number of mental patients in the Kingdom is growing year after year despite the government’s efforts to contain the situation. Four new hospitals were opened during the past two years and 12 are under construction, in addition to existing ones, to treat such patients. However, these projects do not match the enormity of the problem.

The main reason for such diseases, according to experts, is absence of social justice and bad treatment at schools, universities and work places as well as a lack of proper upbringing at home.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of mental patients in some countries reached 30 percent of population. The US spends about $50 billion annually to treat people affected by schizophrenia.

Mental patients receive bad treatment everywhere. According to one report, 75 percent of patients and 30 percent of doctors do not know the rights of such patients. We have to develop regulations and systems to protect the rights of mental patients and punish those who violate them.

There are thousands of mentally deranged individuals at schools, universities and government departments. Many people do not know about them. We have to work together to treat such patients in our society.

— By Abdullah Dahlan