By Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

The most essential role of the position of a vice president is to allow for a smooth transition in case the president becomes incapacitated. In many autocratic systems, presidents are afraid to appoint a vice president precisely for that reason. Palestine had not been an exception to this, until now.

Abbas was elected Palestinian president in 2005, after Arafat’s death and following a 60-day transitional period led by the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Rauhi Fatouh. The 78-year-old Abbas has dropped no hints about a preferred successor, but he has approved a legal research process to create such a position.The Palestinian Basic Law, a sort of temporary constitution, does not reference a position of vice president in any of its articles. Palestine’s first president, Yasser Arafat, never had a vice president, but he did anoint Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, as his No. 2.

While article 34 of the Basic Law allows for a sitting president to make temporary laws, it is believed that creating the position of vice president requires a vote by the currently inactive PLC. The problem is further compounded by the last elected speaker of the Palestinian legislature, Abdel Aziz Dweik, being a strong supporter of Hamas. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki is willing to visit Iran if he receives an official invitation. In an exclusive interview, he told Al-Monitor: “If an official invitation is directed to me, I will accept it. If they choose to invite the president, I would go and prepare for such an official visit.”

Concerning peace talks with Israel, the top Palestinian diplomat reiterated his support for a third-party force to replace the Israeli army “anywhere” in the occupied territories. The comment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly rejected the idea of NATO forces replacing Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories, but said he would consider a third-party force.Malki’s public openness to the Islamic Republic followed a high-level January visit by Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub to Tehran, where he met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Although Malki said Rajoub’s visit was not officially sanctioned by the ministry, he is open to further engagement with Iran.

Malki also defended the ministerial visits from the Ramallah government to Damascus as necessary to remain neutral in the Syrian conflict, saying, “We need to keep our neutrality and make sure that our people are not drawn into the violence. That is why it is imperative that we have good relations with all sides.” Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

I was part of a delegation of the International Press Institute that visited the Egyptian capital last week to try and plead the case of some 12 Egyptian and foreign journalists who are being held behind bars.

The new powers in Egypt seem to have very little tolerance for anyone with an opinion that is not favourable to the June 30 events that led to the ouster of Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi.

Meetings with journalists, lawyers and human rights activists revealed a culture of physical violence and intimidation against journalists in general and especially against members of the press covering anti-government protests.

The Qatari-owned Al Jazeera satellite station appears to get the lion’s share of thisanti-journalist behaviour.

The culture of impunity has encouraged many citizens and local groups to lash out against journalists, especially camera operators.

The Arab Human Rights Network declared that under the new rulers in Egypt, eight journalists were killed, while only one was killed during Morsi’s one-year reign.

When we were in Cairo, we were informed by human rights lawyer Gamal Eid that 12 journalists, including a Turk and an Australian, were detained. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Jordan, which shares the longest border with the Palestinian occupied territories and hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees, is feeling the pressure of a possible US-led breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

The Jordanian government has been sending mixed signals lately in regard to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace mission. On the one hand, Jordan is keen to be involved in the bilateral peace talks if for no other reason than to directly plead its own national interests. On the other hand, as Jordanian Palestinian columnist Orrayb Rantawi has made clear, there is no way that the framework agreement will meet the minimum expectations of the Jordanian people.

In a column published in the daily ad-Dustour, Rantawi concluded with the following: “No one can claim that Kerry’s ideas and plan meet Jordanian interests and positions, and it will be impossible to bridge this gap or to expect Kerry to extract from the Israelis any further concessions.” Rantawi assesses that Jordan is facing a moment of choice of either accepting the plan with reservations under the guise of “this is the best we can do” or rejecting it and taking responsibility for the consequences. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

When Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a German TV network that Iran would support Palestinians in whatever position they take, he was not making a new policy. Successive Iranian officials have made similar pronouncements. However, Zarif’s statement had a ring of credibility to it. After all, Zarif and his boss President Hassan Rouhani have been moderating Iran’s foreign policy in line with what they promised the Iranian electorate last year.

Iranian officials have gotten away with such statements because of the vagueness of who represents the Palestinian people. Hard-line Iranians can justify these statements by insisting that the majority of the elected representatives to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and not the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), are the internationally accepted representatives.

However, today, Iran’s relations with Hamas have deteriorated after the Islamist movement, which was based in Damascus, turned against President Bashar al-Assad and publicly supported the opposition.

Last week, Iran welcomed senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub who reportedly passed on greetings from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Iranian leadership. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially suggested the possibility of Jewish settlers to remain citizens of the Palestinian state, it was not clear whether this was a bluff or a serious proposal. While Palestinian negotiators were quick to reject the idea, it was members of the Israeli cabinet themselves who revealed the true intention of Netanyahu’s proposal.

Israel’s right-wing Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett described Netanyahu’s statement as “very dangerous.” Israeli newspapers said that a trap intended for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas exploded in the face of Netanyahu’s own government.

The main idea behind this apparent trial balloon was to expose what Israelis consider a racist Palestinian position of not wanting any Israeli to stay in the state of Palestine after the possible Israeli withdrawal. Evoking 20th century anti-Semitism and Jewish-free communities in Europe, Netanyahu wanted to paint the picture of the demands by Abbas that all illegal Israeli settlers must leave as anti-Semitic.

Irrespective of the motivation behind this apparent Israeli bluff, there stand two harsh facts that have been rarely discussed.

Settlements built with force by Israel in the occupied territories are illegal.  Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

When the American actress Scarlett Johansson was asked to become a global brand ambassador for SodaStream, she had little reason to object. After all, she had learned that the Israeli company gives fair and equal wages to its Israeli and Palestinian workers. Little did Johansson suspect that her cooperation — with a firm whose main factory is located in the occupied Palestinian territories in contravention of international law — would explode in her face, forcing her to choose between money and ethics. After months of back and forth between Johansson and the charity that she supported, Johansson declared on Jan. 29 that she was resigning as an Oxfam ambassador.

Her decision was no doubt accelerated by the public position of Oxfam regarding the illegality of settlements and the need to boycott products produced in them. In a statement released Jan. 30, the charity announced, “Oxfam believes that businesses, such as SodaStream, that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.”

The actress had for eight years been a global ambassador for Oxfam, an international coalition of 17 organizations working to fight poverty and injustice. Johansson helped raise money for Oxfam and traveled on its behalf around the world, but when she decided to endorse the Israeli company, both she and Oxfam had to make a choice.  Continue Reading »