By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The "Initiators for Palestine" initiative held a ceremony on Wednesday at the Kuwait Society of Lawyers to honor a group of Kuwaitis for their support of the Palestinian cause and their refusal to normalize ties with the Zionist occupiers. In his speech, the media coordinator of the initiative, Youssef Al-Kandari, said this initiative is to honor Kuwaiti individuals and institutions who announced their support for Palestine and oppose the process of normalizing relations with the Zionist entity. "The honoring ceremony aims to praise the Kuwaiti initiators of anti-normalization and highlight their role while presenting them to the Arab and Islamic nations as role models," he said.

Kandari affirmed that civil society institutions seek to create aware generations that are responsible for defending the Palestinian cause, pointing out that many of the honorees apologized for not attending because they believe that their action was a duty and an obligation toward the Palestinian cause.Kandari added heroic Kuwaitis are honored on an ongoing basis, but individually, so this initiative was made to honor all of them at once for their position that conveys the voice of the Palestinian people.

At the ceremony, a short film was played to show Zionist violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, and images of Kuwaitis who withdrew from several sports, cultural and academic events in rejection of normalization. The "Initiators for Palestine" initiative was launched by the Kuwaiti Lawyers Association, Social Culture Association, Kuwait's Social Reform Society, Jerusalem Forum, Jerusalem Secretariat Team, Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), Youth League for Jerusalem, Teachers' Association and Kuwaitis Against Normalization.

Recently, multiple Kuwaiti athletes withdrew from various international tournaments after being pitted against Zionist opponents. They say their actions are in support of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights and rejection of normalizing with the Zionist occupation.