Al-Rai, Kuwait, March 6
We’ve all been talking about coronavirus but we fail to mention another infection that has plagued our society: the sectarian virus. The sectarian virus leads people to delude themselves, promote fanaticism and spread a culture of hatred in order to win the voices of the masses. What we need to do to fight this disease is to find rational people who would be willing to stand up and speak on behalf of the quiet majority. The most important factor defining modern society is the notion of the nation-state. We must protect our national sovereignties in order to defeat tribalism. To do so, we need to educate all Kuwaitis that the only way to disarm and demobilize those promoting sectarianism is to prevent them from reaching the National Assembly. Unlike coronavirus, the sectarian virus will not go away simply by wearing facemasks or isolating ourselves indoors. The Kuwaiti people must speak up and take action. If they re-elect sectarianists into power, the sectarian virus will continue to plague our nation. Sadly, there is no cure or vaccination that would help us. – Khaled Ahmed Al-Saleh (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)