The vile attack on the Kuwait mosque on Friday was designed to inflame sectarian hatred. The bomb that went off in the Imam Al Sadeq Mosque, where more than 2,000 people were praying, killed 27 people and was intended to drive people to anger and hatred.
The terrorist group Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Shiite mosque.
The Gulf states have a tolerant tradition that is being sorely tested by the extremists who want to destroy it. Daesh has a perverted view of what it imagines Islam to be and it seeks to impose this sick ideology on as many people as it can through its acts of terror.
It is time for all peoples of the Gulf, and all Muslims, to rise up and reject the terrorists. Their savage bigotry has no place in the world — and no place in Islam.
This means that each individual in the region needs to stand up and make public that he or she identifies himself or herself with the nation before sect.
The millions of Gulf citizens need to show the terrorists of Daesh that their miserable acts will not have any impact on the normal lives of the vast and overwhelming majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, who will continue as proud Muslims and Arab citizens of their respective countries, happy to be part of the global community.
It is time for public demonstration from both Sunnis and Shiites to act together to reject the sectarian viciousness of Daesh and its evil leaders.
Such a public show of citizenship will also strengthen other countries that have been attacked by Daesh, like Tunisia, where terrorists killed 37 people over the weekend in a show of brute force designed to frighten the government that has infuriated the terrorists by making its democracy work and showing admirable ability to come through the chaos of the Arab Spring.
The leaders and people of the Gulf need to show that they will not be deterred by the evil assault on their values.
