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Gulf Arabs Wonder, Are We Stingy With Aid for Tsunami?
EFL from the Ol' Gray Lady....The newspaper Al Qabas in Kuwait set off a debate spreading throughout the country and beyond on Monday by suggesting that Kuwait deserves its reputation for being cheap and oblivious to people who go there to work as servants, given the relatively low level of aid it has donated to the tsunami victims at a time when the state treasury is bursting with an oil bonanza. Paging Jan Egeland.... Noting that the bulk of the nannies, drivers, menial laborers and other servants who keep most households running in the emirate come from Southeast Asia - imported workers easily outnumber the native population - some Kuwaitis agree that the country and its Persian Gulf neighbors need to be doing much more. But the campaign to shut down Islamic charities accused of financing terrorism has left many people confused about where to turn when they do want to donate money. And a few extremist Friday Prayer leaders and other religious commentators fueled the uncertainty by suggesting that the tsunami destruction was the wrath of God. But what about the Muslim victims? Oh right....they're not Wahhabi....sorry, my bad. Gauging the extent of private donations for the region proved difficult because nobody seems to be collecting the information. I'll do it for ya.....so far, zip. Nothing. Nada. Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-01-04 |
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