140-151 ADEL AL-YOUSIFI / TARCRETE / KUWAIT EVIDENCE 1991-2011

/ Bayan Palace / Grand Hall Theatre Bayan suburb of Kuwait City April 1991




/ Kuwait International Airport Farwaniyah suburb May 1991
// Al-Shaab Palace Maidan / HawalI suburbs April 1991




/ Al-Salam Hotel / dining room Kuwait City March 1991
// Bayan Palace / lobby Bayan suburb of Kuwait City April 1991



[...INVASION / IT WAS A SHOCK FOR EVERYONE, BUT, FOR PEOPLE OUTSIDE KUWAIT— & I WAS ONE OF THEM— IT WAS LIKE BEING CAUGHT IN AN UNBELIEVABLE BAD DREAM. MY MOTHER, MY FAMILY, & I HAD BEEN IN THE U.S. IN JULY. ON OUR WAY BACK TO KUWAIT, WE STOPPED IN LONDON FOR A FEW DAYS AS 2 OF MY SISTERS & THEIR FAMILIES WERE THERE. THEN THE INVASION OCCURRED SO WE ALL HAD TO STAY ON IN LONDON. WE HAD NOT HEARD ALL THE TALK & THREATS THAT SADDAM HAD MADE, THOUGH SOMETIMES WE HEARD RUMOURS OR A BIT OF AMERICAN NEWS. I WOULD THEN CALL HOME TO TALK TO ONE OF MY 2 BROTHERS & TELL HIM WHAT IS ON THE NEWS. HE ALWAYS ANSWERED NOT TO WORRY, THAT IT WAS NOT SERIOUS. WELL, IT WAS SERIOUS, & IT TOOK ME AROUND 10 DAYS TO REALISE THE INVASION WAS NOT A DREAM. MOST OF OUR RELATIVES WERE IN KUWAIT ON AUGUST 2. ABOUT HALF OF THEM LEFT KUWAIT DURING THE 1ST WEEKS & SOME GOT OUT AFTER A MONTH OR SO. THEY LEFT 1ST THROUGH IRAN, THEN TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. SOME STAYED IN THE U.A.E. & OTHERS JOINED US IN LONDON. THEY LEFT WITH FORGED IDS THAT GAVE THEM OTHER NATIONALITIES TO MAKE IT EASIER TO FLEE. THE FORGERIES WERE ‘OFFICIAL,’ IN THAT THEY WERE OBTAINED FROM THE POLICE OR ARMY & STAMPED BY GOVERNMENT MINISTERS. BOTH OF MY BROTHERS & ONE OF MY SISTERS REMAINED IN KUWAIT. MY FAMILY & I LEFT LONDON AROUND MARCH 11 & WENT TO DUBAI, WHERE I RENTED AN APARTMENT & STAYED FOR A FEW DAYS WITH MY WIFE & CHILDREN. AFTER I MADE SURE THEY HAD ALL THEY NEEDED, I PREPARED FOR THE 1,150 KM DRIVE TO KUWAIT. I HEARD FROM FRIENDS THAT ONLY PEOPLE WITH GOODS TO DELIVER WERE ALLOWED INTO KUWAIT. SO, I BOUGHT A SMALL TRUCK & FILLED IT WITH FOOD, BOTTLED WATER, & 5 PORTABLE GENERATORS, AS I HAD HEARD KUWAIT HAD NO ELECTRICITY. I DROVE TO SAUDI ARABIA & GOT PERMISSION IN DAMMAM TO CROSS INTO KUWAIT. I ARRIVED ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 22.

KUWAIT / LOOKED LIKE AN EMPTY CITY WITH A DARK SKY IN DAYTIME; THINGS LOOKED A LOT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED. BUT AFTER I SPENT A FEW DAYS ENTERING HOUSES & PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SEEING THE TREMENDOUS DESTRUCTION INSIDE, & HEARING STORIES FROM MANY FRIENDS & RELATIVES, I SAW THE REAL PICTURE. KUWAIT HAD BEEN RAPED— MARRED ON THE OUTSIDE BUT, EVEN MORE SO, SHATTERED ON THE INSIDE. FOOD & DRINK WERE PLENTIFUL, BUT THERE WERE MOUNDS OF GARBAGE EVERYWHERE & NO ELECTRICITY. WHEN I ARRIVED, I WENT 1ST TO MY HOUSE &, AFTER RESTING, AROUND 3 PM I WENT TO CHECK ON MY IN-LAWS. JUST AS I SAID ‘SALAAM ALAIKUM’ [‘PEACE BE WITH YOU’] TO MY IN-LAWS, THE LIGHTS CAME ON. MY IN-LAWS HAD 2 HOUSES, ONE WHICH THEY HAD LIVED IN FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS & ANOTHER THEY HAD JUST FINISHED BUILDING BUT NOT YET MOVED INTO. THE OLD HOUSE WAS FINE BECAUSE THEY HAD LIVED IN IT DURING THE INVASION. THE NEW ONE WAS A WRECK. THE IRAQIS HAD MOVED INTO IT & TURNED IT INTO A FORTIFICATION. THEN A FEW DAYS BEFORE LIBERATION, THEY MOVED OUT & IGNITED THE AMMUNITION THEY HAD STOWED IN THE BASEMENT. MY IN-LAWS NEVER LIVED IN THAT HOUSE. THEY RESTORED IT, BUT MY FATHER-IN-LAW DIED BEFORE THEY COULD MOVE IN. AT THE BEGINNING, MY HOME, LIKE MANY HOMES, WAS LOOTED. ALL MY CAMERAS & ELECTRICAL GOODS WERE STOLEN. THEN MY BROTHER, WHO WAS MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR, ALLOWED SOME PEOPLE TO LIVE IN MY HOUSE. MANY KUWAITIS WHOSE HOMES HAD NO BASEMENT MOVED INTO A HOME WITH A BASEMENT DUE TO FEAR OF SADDAM USING CHEMICAL BOMBS. THESE PEOPLE— I DO NOT BLAME THEM— DAMAGED MY HOME BY NAILING WOODEN PLANKS TO ALL THE DOORS & DRIPPING CANDLE WAX ON ALL THE FLOORS & RUGS, SOME OF WHICH NEVER CAME OFF. CANDLES WERE NEEDED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY. MY HOME WAS ALSO USED TO SHELTER A BOY SOUGHT BY THE IRAQIS. BECAUSE SEVERAL BOYS HAD SEEN WHAT THEY WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO, THEY WERE SHOT. ONE SURVIVED & ESCAPED. HIS FAMILY PRETENDED HE HAD DIED OF HIS WOUND & ARRANGED A FAKE MOURNING. THE IRAQIS NEVER FOUND HIM. HE IS CONSIDERED TO BE A LIVING MARTYR...]


/ excerpt from a text based on an interview with DR ADEL AL-YOUSIFI by MONICA PRONIN. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER005 / SHE HAS NO STRINGS APOLLO





/ Souk Al-WataniyA [shopping mall] Kuwait City March 1991








/ Private Home / bedroom Omariyah suburb of Kuwait City April 1991
// Telecommunications Tower Fahaheel city on Kuwait’s southern coast May 1991