Israel Bombs Gaza School
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Max 48º Min 33º FREE www.kuwaittimes.net NO: 16237- Friday, July 25, 2014 IsraelIsrael bombsbombs GazaGaza schoolschool PAGE 11 A Palestinian child, wound- ed in an Israeli strike on a UN school in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, cries in the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya yes- terday. — AP Local FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 Kaffeeklatsch Trapped in in the grid By Shakir Reshamwala shared links, from irreverent top ten lists to gruesome [email protected] images of war. In this too, there’s a constant battle to win the hearts and minds of users, most of whom now What is this life if, full of care, consume news only on social media. We have no time to stand and stare. Everybody from your grandpa and his cat to the so- - Leisure by W H Davies (1911) called millennials are on social media, their fingers (and paws?) flicking away at the screens of their smartphones e have become slaves to social media. at family gatherings, mealtimes, traffic lights, bus stops, Everyone seems to have their faces glued to boardrooms, streets, you name it. While walking, driving, Wtheir smartphones, oblivious of the world commuting, working, eating and even sleeping, as the around them. I wanted to say we have become slaves to mobile is the last thing that is seen before hitting the technology or the Internet, but that wouldn’t be true. sack and the first thing squinted at after awaking. After all, you wouldn’t surf the Net for hours on a mobile So how would it be to drop off social media? Quit cold device. The emergence of smartphones, tablets, turkey? A fellow journalist recently did just that - or went phablets and their cousins have made access to your off the grid as he put it, because it took up too much of online social world much easier. Your phone is now a hi- his time. He was back soon, but the break must’ve been res camera and powerful computer rolled into one, and therapeutic, freed from the pressure of constantly check- broadcasting to the world how great your existence is is ing for updates, posting every detail of your life online just a few clicks away. and exposure to corny memes, animal videos and dead There are also the elements of envy, curiosity and children. But information is too addictive and narcissism one-upmanship involved - a hunger to know what your and navel-gazing too ingrained in us to stay away for friends (some of whom you haven’t met personally for long. years) are doing professionally and socially, and more It seems everyone nowadays has the time to stare - at importantly, how are they ageing. Then there’s also the their smartphones, that is. KUWAIT: Worshippers supplicate during Ramadan qiyaam prayers at the Grand Mosque. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Local FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 Local Spotlight Lack of morals By Muna Al-Fuzai [email protected] friend called me asking to write about a lack of Amorals among people as they call for good manners, while they fail to show any in their everyday life. He was referring to the spread of cheating, hypocrisy, lying and dishonestly. I couldn’t agree more that is it a shame that many people think that being born a Muslim is enough in life. I believe we have a moral problem in the Islamic world. There is a lack of proper understanding of the meaning of morality. Religious rituals are something between you and Allah - it is no one else’s business or interest. But your man- ners are something you are forced to share with everyone every day. It is common in the Muslim world to see people praising and applauding dictators. Officials who are supposed to enforce the law only do it on strangers and not their fami- lies. You go to an official department to process paperwork, but the corrupt system forces you to pay some money to speed it up. Isn’t this a bribe? You may take a wrong turn on the road and someone can easily curse you and say bad words to you. Humans make mistakes, so why saying sorry is not enough? You meet strangers in the elevator or at the door and when you politely hold the door for them, they simply pass with no word of thanks. These little acts are called manners. I don’t see much of them! The more we compare how the West is managing their life and how the Muslim world is surviving, it is a slap, but let’s not forget that it is we who made all these bad morals acceptable. Muhammad Abduh was an Islamic thinker and liberal who was born in 1849 and died in 1905. His thoughts, books and calls are still alive until today. He is the man behind this well known saying, “I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.” I wish Muhammad Abduh was still alive to witness the transformation of some educated Muslims into terrorists specialized in sowing chaos and murder in the name of Islam. This man encouraged unity with all religious tradi- tions. He believed that the Torah, Bible and Quran comple- ment one another, being read everywhere and respected by every nation. He was “looking to seeing Muslims read the Torah and the Bible”. Morals are not excusive to one religion or nation. It is for mankind to upgrade itself from animalism. I believe educa- tion is a tool that we fail to use in proper way. We need to consider having good morals in our life. 27- Who was the first to draw a sword for the sake of Allah? - Zubayr ibn Al-Awam Yes No KUWAIT: A minaret of a mosque soars into the skies. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Local6 FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 Deliverymen race against time By Nawara Fattahova ost families choose at least once during Ramadan to order iftar from a restaurant, and some families do so more frequently. So if the deliveryman arrives late with the order, this may cause a serious problem - even more than during regular days. Restaurants start work- ing two or three hours before iftar to prepare the food. Most restaurants have a de- livery service, which should be very Mpunctual. Newspapers regularly publish stories of fights and injuries over delays in de- liveries of iftar orders. Photos by Sherif Ismail Local FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 7 Ali, a deliveryman at a pizzeria in Mansouriya, noted that work in Ramadan is less hectic than the rest of the year. “I work from 5:30 pm until 2:30 am. The peak time for orders is between 12:30 am and 2:30 am, as mostly people order suhoor rather than iftar. In general, work in Ramadan is much easier as we work less, and in this hot weather we only begin work in the late afternoon, when the weather is pleasant,” he told Kuwait Times. He is satisfied with his work, but sometimes faces uncomfortable situations. “Once I delivered an order to a customer that cost about KD 7 or 8, and he sent the maid out with KD 20 to pay me. I gave her the change and left. After about half an hour, he called me and said I hadn’t returned the change. I told him I gave the maid the change. He called me again after he checked and apologized. I know that people are edgy when they are waiting for the iftar meal as they are fasting the whole day, so we have to deliver their orders on time,” noted Ali. Ali’s restaurant has a policy that if the customer receives his order more than 30 minutes late, he will get it for free. “This policy is followed at branches all over the world. This makes us more during this month I delivered five minutes late and the customer careful to meet the timings otherwise the restaurant will have to was angry and demanded it for free. I spoke to him nicely and pay it and may deduct it from our salary if it was our fault. Once explained the rule, but added if he wanted it he could take it for free. But he paid up and the problem was resolved peacefully,” he said. Hosni, another deliveryman at an Iranian restaurant in Jabriya, noted that he always reaches on time during Ramadan. “I leave early to reach on time, and traffic is minimal during iftar time as the streets are almost empty. Our work is easier compared to the rest of the year, and picks up in the night from 11:30 pm,” he noted. He too is satisfied with his work, and is punctual in delivering. “Once I was late for some customers because the first customer made me wait in front of his house for more than 20 minutes to pay me. I had three other orders with me and my time for delivery is calculated to reach all customers on time, and in this way I was late for the other three customers who got mad at me. I apologized and had to explain to each of them that it wasn’t my fault,” stressed Hosni. Local FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 Iraq instability may delay Kuwait MIA files NEW YORK: UN Special Representative for “I wish to assure them (Kuwaiti govern- ready to assist Iraqi efforts in this direction.” of Karbala and Muthanna, he added.