Palestinians and the Invasion

It seems I've sparked a debate on Palestinians and their perceived role during the invasion. So here's my official take on it:

The gross misjudgment of Yasser Arafat and the late King Hussein, and their stupid backing of Saddam Hussein, will go down as one of history's greatest blunders. If anything, it did more harm to their own people than it did to us as Kuwaitis. The seeds of the PLO were planted in Kuwait as far back as 1959, when no other country would give Arafat the time of day, and continued to enjoy both government and popular support right up to the Iraqi invasion. Millions of dinars were poured into the PLO coffers - God knows how much of it actually ended up helping Palestinian refugees and how much of it lined Arafat's pockets. At least Arafat was continuing his tradition of bad judgement and screw-ups (Lebanon, anyone?). King Hussein simply had no excuse!

We Kuwaitis were profoundly and understandably betrayed when we watched Arafat embrace Saddam Hussein a few days after he invaded Kuwait. It was simply inconceivable; how could he do this to us after everything we did for his people? And yet, every Palestinian I knew at the time was more upset at him than we were. How could they not be? He basically put their lives in danger and ruined their prosperous existence in Kuwait for good. Many middle and upper class Palestinians were also on vacation that August, and found themselves stranded outside Kuwait just like Kuwaitis and had their homes looted and destroyed just like Kuwaitis. But of course, after Kuwait was liberated they could not return to their previous lives, schools and jobs. Many others who happened to be here in August '90, simply gave up after a few weeks and left Kuwait because they knew that Arafat had driven a wedge between them and the country they loved, and earned them the hatred and wrath of Kuwaitis. A Palestinian friend told me he had to leave because he could not bear the thought of being hated for his stupid leader's mistake. He loved this country so much, and felt it was his home, but he knew when it was all over there would be an understandable backlash, so he left. Others left, just as Kuwaitis left, in the hopes of returning to Kuwait once the invasion was over.

Another thing we hold against Palestinians is that very few, if any, of them had the courage to speak out against Arafat's position and call attention to the injustice of the invasion. But I attribute that silence as typical Arab fear of challenging leaders, compounded by active silencing of any dissenting voices that refuse to follow the party line.

And what about the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza demonstrating in support of Saddam in 1991? I don't presume to speak for them, but if I were that desperate I would believe anyone who told me that freedom was near. Sure it was stupid, but that's human nature. And how do we know these demonstrations weren't staged for the cameras? I witnessed a pro-Saddam demonstration right here in Kuwait in front of one of the tacky monuments he erected for himself all around town. I found myself driving into the middle of a rowdy mob jumping up and down and chanting for Saddam, when suddenly the chanting stopped and the mob was rounded up AT GUNPOINT into buses waiting on the side to take them back to Basra or wherever. Later that night, I switched on Iraqi TV and saw the same demonstration on their news and even spotted my car for a split second on the edge of the TV screen. The news claimed that KUWAITIS were demonstrating in support of Saddam!

So, in the end, many Palestinians screwed up and many others were harmed. I also have to acknowledge the large number of heroic Palestinians who did not stand idly by, but volunteered to help Kuwaitis any way that they could. Others simply grabbed what they could and got out.

The moral of the story (and this rather long post) is that there is good and bad in every nation. Passing judgement and generalizations only leads to more misunderstandings. My family's furniture business was blown up during the invasion, not by Iraqis or even Palestinians, but by well-intentioned yet misguided Kuwaiti resistance fighters who were targetting the Iraqi-owned grocery next door where soldiers would hang out. And yet, could I suddenly turn on my own fellow Kuwaitis for that stupid mistake? OF COURSE NOT!