We (me and a large number of Kuwaiti activists) have been protesting the ferocious book ban taking place in Kuwait. Our first protest was Sept. 1st 2018, our second was Sept. 15th 2018. and our third was last Saturday, Sept. 29th. After which the Kuwaiti government shut down my twitter account because I was too vocal in regards to the corruption taking place in the Ministry of Information, and the randomness of books being banned. Not to mention that the censor is paid a remuneration for banning, therefore, the more he/she bans, the better.
But you thought Kuwait was progressive in comparison to it's neighboring countries right? Indeed, the Kuwaiti constitution states in
articles 31, 37 and 38 that freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom
of press and publication, and personal freedom are all guaranteed and protected
under the constitution. But there are two important factors that have played an
important role in weakening the constitution when it comes to protecting
freedom of expression. Not only when it comes to books, but in regards to all
the arts, visual and non-visual. The first is Kuwait’s publication law no.
3/2006. The law puts numerous restrictions in regard to what can and can’t be
published and distributed in Kuwait. Writers and publishers have been fighting
this law since 2007, but it’s only in the last five years that these demands
for change have grown louder and more urgent. And the reason for this, is that
the banning and censorship has grown more brutal in the last five years, with
the ministry of information banning 4590 books, and the ban falling on books
that have been sold in Kuwait for decades; important works by internationally
renowned novelists such as George Orwell, Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And well-loved Arabic novelists/poets and playwrights
such as Gibran Khalil Gibran, Ahmed Matar, Ghassan Kanafani, Fahad Al Askar,
and Nizar Qabbani. The book ban also includes children books, scientific books,
books on philosophy, economics, politics and theology. Some books were banned because they contained the word 'breast' in them! And a children's book about a mermaid targeting 5-7 years olds was banned because of the picture of the mermaid on the cover, the mermaid with her sea-shell bra being too revealing and sexual for children!
The second factor is the
political power of the Islamists, who represent the far right, and are extreme
when it comes to their denunciation of the arts, and the role which the arts
play in corrupting youth and poisoning their morals - as the Islamists want the
Kuwaiti society to believe. There has been a rise in atheism amongst Kuwaiti
youth in Kuwait, and Islamists believe that books and art are behind this
growing phenomenon; especially philosophy books by Nietzsche and Spinoza. However, the book ban has been so random that it included books
on Quran and other books that denounce atheism and challenges atheists
theories. In my opinion this ferocious ban on books comes from the fear which
Islamists feel, they know they are losing their grip on the Kuwaiti society.
Although they remain powerful in politics, they have lost their credibility
socially, especially with the younger generations.
What's the next step? Now we’re working towards two main goals. The first is to
widen the circle, we won’t be focusing only on book censorship but censorship
on expression as a whole, we’re talking to artists whose works have been
banned, sculptures who were not allowed to exhibit, musicians, dancers, actors,
film makers, playwrights. In this respect we will be larger in number and
heavier in weight as we put more pressure on Parliament members to act. The
second, is to include popular Islamists in the conversation. Since we’ve
started demonstrations against censorship, the Ministry of Information has been
showing us in a negative light; that we’re a bunch of liberals and atheists who
disregard the conservative nature of the Kuwaiti culture. If we include them in
the talks/seminars and get the message through, that all of us however
religious or non-religious will suffer due to this book ban, we will gain more
credibility with the public.
