Days of the invasion

A brief about the book "Days of the Invasion" Those difficult months of the occupation of Kuwait by the Saddam Hussein regime since August 2, 1990, the great Palestinian artist Ismail Shammout, most likely, was the only person who thought of documenting what happened, day by day! Starting from the statements of politicians, such as George H. W. Bush, Mitterrand, Hosni Mubarak, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad, Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah, and others. Even the minutest details of life during those days, from the price of a box of potatoes, hours of power and water outages, continuous bombing, news of raids by the occupation army, the cost of repairing an air conditioner unit, with an in-depth review of the Palestinian Authority’s and other Palestinians’ stance on the invasion, and more. It is the first document that covered that period with detailed recording, as if the late Ismail Shammout knew, in some way, that the effects of that reckless occupation of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s regime would extend, politically, socially, and economically, until today. It is also the reference that the Kuwaiti novelist, Ismail Fahd Ismail, relied on in writing his documentary novel about the occupation; "Coordinates of the Time of Isolation." What characterizes this document is its immediacy and freshness, and while some pages were teeming with emotion and sentiment, that emotion did not hinder the author’s ability to document calmly and systematically what was happening around him, from radio news to street observations. They said about the book "Days of the Invasion" that I am an adventurous publisher, and this was the response of the late writer Ismail Fahd Ismail to the writer Saud Sanuosi, when he approached him after reading "Ismail Shammout’s Diaries During the Kuwait Occupation," saying, "This historical document should be published in a book." And after more than 31 years, it remained hidden in drawers, until it was finally published... what a wonderful adventure! - Faisal Al-Turki / Al-Rai Quotes from "Days of the Invasion" (Tuesday, 16/10/1990) Life has become painfully slow and boring, and there is nothing to inspire hope or despair... and here lies the problem... neither are we optimistic... nor are we pessimistic regarding the general situation in this region, and all possibilities are open, whether on the local level in this region or in the entire Arab region, especially in what is called the "Middle East." There is nothing tempting to leave the house for, and I see no need for that, and the only thing one gains from leaving the house is sorrow and pain for this country that was once something... a monument... and then fell... I stay at home for days without leaving it... but despite having many things to occupy myself with inside the house, the feeling of distress increases day by day, and with it, life becomes more miserable. It seems that in times of waiting, a person loses the ability to innovate and create... and the pleasure of searching for something new in the routine of life diminishes under such circumstances.