Screams help officers thwart bid to kill girl for soiling family name

KUWAIT CITY : The Saudi immigration officers manning the Al-Riqei border post are said to have reportedly foiled an attempt by an unidentified GCC family to kill their daughter to save their honor, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily. According to a security source the parents with the daughter and another sibling traveled to Salmi post and to prevent the ‘victim’ from screaming for help the family’s relative who allegedly works at the post hurried through the process of stamping the passports to help the family cross into Saudi Arabia as the family waited in their car. When the girl reached the Saudi border post she screamed for help and told the immigration officers that her father planned to kill her. The family was temporarily detained at the post until the Saudi authorities contacted the authorities in Kuwait. After the family was returned to Kuwait under guard, the relative who helped them at the Salmi post was arrested and detained for interrogation. The daily said it is a case of ‘honor killing’. The girl was reportedly involved in an affair with an unidentified youth inside an apartment in Salmiya and she became pregnant. Meanwhile, the Al-Anba daily added, when the girl was in police custody the brother grabbed his younger sister and threatened to shoot her in front of the building of the Criminal Investigations Department. He was demanding the release of his other sister who was caught having fun with the youth inside an apartment after a missing person report was filed against her. A police sniper shot the man in the arm and rescued the younger sibling.

OK, I realize I haven't done much with the site lately, and that I really do need to add some more videos, new pictures, etc. And I will insha'Allah this weekend. Someone suggested that I totally revamp it, give it a new look, new colors, and be more appealing to my "audience." When I explained to him that I do the site simply for myself, and not necessarily for others, he was still determined to motivate me to make changes.

That being said, since some people feel there is an "audience" who actually pays attention to the contents of the site, then I am asking for any suggestions. Please email me with anything you would like to see, or things that would make the site more user friendly.

Also, I know positing in Arabic would make it much easier for some of you to read, however, me typing in Arabic could be the start of the next mid-east crisis, since I have no idea how to write Arabic. Although, I have had many offers from people to translate and repost for me in Arabic, I just haven't taken them up on the offer.....yet.

Thank you for any feedback and I suppose I look forward to a little change here as well.

KUWAIT (Agencies): His Highness the Father Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah passed away Tuesday, the Amiri Diwan said.
“The Amiri Diwan mourns His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah who passed away tonight,” the Amiri Diwan said in a statement.

No, this isn't about the birds and the bees. I think we all have a pretty good grasp on that. Nor is this about God, or a higher power that actually created us. This is about what came next. Where was the very first human life on earth? I'm sure we call all pretty much agree that would be in the Middle East. As a matter of fact, I have traced my own family all the way back to Babylon, then to Egypt, then Jordan, then N. England, back to Egypt, again to N. England, and eventually to the United States about 5 generations ago.

Fast forward thousands of years to the people who remained in the Middle East; Saudi, Kuwait, and Iraq in particular.

Quite some time ago, those 3 countries didn't exist. They were all one and known as the "Arabian Peninsula." Eventually things changed, oil came, royal families were taking over, people were wanting more than a tent and a camel, lands became divided, and all of a sudden there was 3 countries instead of 1.

So what happened to the people of the "Arabian Peninsula?" Were they suddenly considered "Saudi" or "Kuwaiti"? Something like that, but not really, since citizenship didn't mean much of anything back then. However, once citizenship did have meaning, many of these same people weren't granted it. Why?

Some say they "snuck" here to Kuwait from other countries seeking benefits and citizenship. Others say they discarded their real passports, and came to Kuwait pretending to be Kuwaiti trying to get citizenship. And then there's me...one who says, "WHAT?!?!" These people were all of one nation, the Arabian Peninsula! They slept in the same deserts, and shared meals with one another. They were born in the same tents, and raised their families together. Now one is granted citizenship and the other is a "bidoon"?! How can this be?

Let me clear up some of the myths about Kuwaiti citizenship; it's not as fantastic and amazing as some make it seem. However, the Kuwaitis treat it that way, so other people do too. Kuwaiti citizenship comes with the typical rights that other citizenships do: passport, right to marry, right to a recorded birth, right to legal defense, rights to free or reduced rate medical care, etc. Although, Kuwait has an additional "perk" -- salary. This is money provided to a Kuwaiti citizen every month based upon different things such as marital status, number of children, cost of living, etc. This is NOT a huge amount of money, and unless they are nearly homeless, this salary does NOT cover the cost of living for the average Kuwaiti family. It's only a supplement. In reality it's a welfare system. But this one promotes family unity instead of tears it apart...like the welfare system in America.

Now, back to the "Bidoons." Considering these people are not citizens, though come from the exact same deserts as the citizens, they don't get the basic rights....passport, free education, medical, etc. And they certainly do not get the salary. But if you were to ask most Bidoons WHY they even want citizenship....few would say "salary." The most common answer would be so they could get a job and earn their salary, or so they could take their elderly family member for medical care outside of Kuwait.

That being said, what's the harm in granting citizenship to these people? Kuwait is one of the richest countries in the world with one of the smallest populations. Something tells me they're not going to run out of money, regardless of how many people they share it with. Not only that, but by granting citizenship they would be meeting the basic human rights of these HUMANS, they would be lowering the crime rate since many Bidoons have no choice but to resort to crime to feed their families, and they would be allowing a fair chance at a good life to their brothers and sisters in Islam.

Not to mention....didn't EVERY Kuwaiti "sneak" into Kuwait? Or did he just happen to wake up on the "right" side of the desert one morning? NO ONE is really a Kuwaiti.