Kuwait Meetings

3. Kuwait Meetings

On June 12, Arab media reported that both Al-Mutawa and Al-Tabtabai had spoken at

a seminar on the flotilla organized by the Kuwait Bar Association one day earlier. 461 The report characterized Al-Mutawa’s remarks as follows:

A Freedom Flotilla returnee Lawyer Mubarak Al-Mutawa disclosed that the ships were about 100 kilometers away from the Israeli waters, yet the Zionists attacked the convoy, killing 16 Turkish crew, reports Al-Seyassah daily. Al- Mutawa declared this at a seminar organized by Kuwait Bar Association Thursday, and said the trip was purely humanitarian rather than military, contrary to propaganda the Zionists embarked upon. He stated the incident aboard was a clear message to the entire world that Zionists are hostile to conscientious Muslims and other international communities. He stressed the Palestinian situation concerns the entire world, based on the large number of individuals from different parts of the world joining the convoy, and lauded the Turkish crew for their unequalled bravery, and determination to face the hostility of Zionists, which led to some of them dying. “Some journalists criticized certain individuals with the convoy, instead of criticizing actions. This is unfair journalism and must not continue that way,” the activist lawyer submitted. Inhumane

In the same report, Al-Tabtabai’s remarks were also reported: In his contribution, MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei declared that voluntary

participation the trip witnessed has broken the inhumane restriction on the Gaza Strip. He said Kuwaitis participated in the trip because it was a humanitarian and Islamic issue. He noted the Kuwaiti government did not support them

LXII “Interested viewers can tune to 11662 on the Arabsat or 10949 on the Nile Sat”, he reported.

financially but the country benefited from the honor and achievement at the international level. He added the Al-Azhar scholars are proud of the Kuwaiti participants. “We have been able to defeat the propaganda by the Zionists, with the US and Europe criticizing them on the Gaza blockade and terrible attack against the convoy”, he pointed out.

On June 16, Al-Mutawa and Al-Tabtabai were featured speakers at a seminar sponsored by the Kuwait-Turkish Friendship Society under the direction of its leader Abdullah

Salem al-Jam’iyya. LXIII LXIV 462 Al-Jam’iyya explained that the Society was in charge of “[building the] bridges of brotherhood between the institutions and societies of both Kuwait and Turkey”:

Kuwait does not hesitate to give a hand of co-operation with this country, as Allah created the various peoples to get to know each other and communicate, not to disagree and argue”. He further stressed that “For the Arab countries, Turkey is not a society like other societies, or a people like other peoples, rather it is the depth and culture, and we welcome it to the lap of its Arab sisters”. He also added “the Zionist brutal aggression on the Freedom Flotilla has inflamed the feelings of solidarity between the Arab and Islamic people to face this absurdity”.

Al-Mutawa and Al-Tabtabai were joined by Gazi Misirli, who was identified as Vice- President of the International Businessmen Forum and coordinator of international

relations in MÜSİAD. Mr. Misirli reportedly opened his comments by stressing the importance of voluntary work and the role of civil organizations (NGOs)”, saying

“Praise to Allah, even if all Arab armies would have gathered to open a front with Israel, the would not have accomplished such a success like the Freedom Flotilla and

the civil organizations did.” He then identified himself and MÜSİAD as the coordinator for donations to the Flotilla as well having purchased its own ship:

We worked day and night to equip the Freedom Flotilla, and collected donations for it with devotion and dedication; with Allah’s help we also bought another ship, that will be sent to Gaza carrying aid again.”

Mr. Misirli also spoke extensively about the support provided by Turkey and particularly by the AKP government and Prime Minister Erdogan:

“The Turkish people as a whole gathered to agree and assist the Freedom Flotilla, and this is the fist time that all Turkish people agree on a certain issue”, adding that “the declaration of PM Rajab Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish parliament should be written on golden waters; he did not only spoke ‘dust’, but also issued decisions which were executed, promised that the prisoners and martyrs will be back and appointed the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to see these decisions are carried out and the whole issue is resolved quickly. In addition he co-opted with the UN in issuing a decision re what happened”. Masry further continued: “Erdogan sent airplanes to carry the wounded from Israel, and the al-Fatih Mosque in Turkey was filled with prayers in spite of the great hit and sun, all praying for the martyrs and wounded”, adding that “among the most important successes was the Turkish nation’s recruitment around the flotilla issue”.

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Al-Tabtabai reportedly emphasized the benefits and achievements of the flotilla in the Arab and Muslim world, and its role in breaking the siege

“The Turkish people are brave, generous and noble; this was made clear by their stand on the freedom ship, and by their facing the deadly Zionist weapons and bullets with their own bodies”. “I have never seen such bravery and generosity like the Turks in the Israeli prisons; three Turks as well as the head of the IHH were with me, and they all refused any Turk is released before the Arabs who were with them on the ship…” He further added that “in Allah’s will, there will be a confrontation with Zionism, having kidnapped 700 activists on their peaceful way to Gaza”, pointing at the fact that “the Zionist Ehud Barak has cancelled a scheduled visit to France, since he heard of a legal procedure initiated against him by activists, and this made him fear he will be held in custody for shooting at the ship; thus, Israel has been placed under siege for its mistreatment of the freedom flotilla, and this is one of the real gains”. Another gain, according to him, was that “Amr Mussa, Secretary General of the Arab League did not even wait for a second on the Rafah crossing blessing the freedom flotilla”.

Al-Mutawa was reported to have expressed his opinion that following the flotilla, the Gaza siege is now viewed as a siege imposed on all Arabs and Muslims:

There is no doubt that the siege imposed on Gaza, following the Freedom Flotilla, is no longer [seen as] imposed on Gaza alone, rather on all Arabs and Muslims”, implying to “a land convoy that left to Gaza the day before yesterday, which is one of the gains of the flotilla, which opened the way to this region”. Mutawa asked: “Under what right the Turkish-Arab and Islamic relations were in the past titled ‘colonialism’? In any case, what happened in the freedom flotilla has transformed this approach, and brought closer the Arab and Turkish peoples to the level of becoming a blood brotherhood”, expressing his “honor and pride in taking part in the freedom flotilla”. He further added that he is “the Kuwaiti-Turkish Friendship Committee expresses the understanding of brotherhood, further more than only friendship, as it percepts it [understanding] very deep and effective”.