By Daoud Kuttab

The first thing that Tanya George does when she wakes up in her Ramallah home is to check the Facebook group “
Status of the Road, Qalandia and Hizma.” She scrolls to the latest entry checks and reads the status of Palestine’s worst checkpoint. If it is crowded, she would take the longer road to her job in East Jerusalem, where she works to support underprivileged students, rather than risk waiting in line for hours, or might decide to do some work at home and leave for the office later.

The Facebook group monitoring the crossings was started by Richard Khoury, a Palestinian who works for the International Committee of the Red Cross. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Khoury explained how the group was established. “My wife and I live in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, and on weekends we normally go to Ramallah to see family and friends.” Khoury said that after wasting so many hours waiting in line, he and his colleagues at work began exchanging information on traffic backups through Facebook. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper

By Daoud Kuttab

Out of nowhere, this week, two prominent individuals came out in support of the two-state solution as the best way to move forward the dormant Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whose organisation is part of the comatose Quartet, spoke at a special session of the UN Security Council in New York about the need for a negotiated solution.

“I strongly urge the incoming government to reaffirm Israel’s commitment to the two-state solution,” Ban said.

At the same time, leading American Jewish thinker Noam Chomsky and the voluntarily exiled Israeli academician Ilan Pappe produced divergent points of view.

While Pappe, whose research into the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 urged the scrapping of the two-state solution and the adoption of the one-state option, Chomsky backs the two-state idea.

The ideas endorsed by the UN head or the Harvard professor are not new. They reflect the vast majority of worldwide political thinking and position as the easiest and fastest way to resolve the nearly half a century of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The strong showing by Palestinian citizens of Israel in the March 17 Knesset elections, winning an unprecedented 13 seats, has revived hope that the 20% Arab population in Israel can have a strong influence on the workings of the state.

Committee selection usually awaits the formation of the government, but until then, two temporary committees are formed: one for foreign relations and security and the other for finance. “We chose to take two seats in the finance committee because we are sure that if we go for the foreign relations and security committee, they will not allow us to have any effect by moving all-important topics to subcommittees of which we are not members,” Tuma told Al-Monitor by phone on her way to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian leadership.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud won an unexpected 30 mandates, is having a hard time forming a narrow coalition. Israeli media reports say that he prefers a unity government with the Zionist bloc, with 25 seats headed by Isaac Herzog. To pass a confidence vote, Israeli governments need at least 61 mandates out of 120 members of the Knesset. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

As a journalist who must stay neutral on all issues, I make it a habit not to sign any petitions or political statements. However, in 1991 when I got a call from Francoise, the wife of Bob Simon to organize a petition on behalf of Simon, who was imprisoned by the Iraqi government, I didn’t hesitate. I got around forty Palestinian journalists to sign an appeal to the Iraqi leadership to release Simon, confirming his professionalism and rejecting their claims that he was a spy for Israel.

Simon, who happens to be of Jewish background although not practicing, covered the Palestinian intifada with sincerity professionalism and understanding in a way no other television reporter has done. In fact while working in Palestine he intervened to prevent the Israelis from deporting one of his own colleagues Taher Shreiteh, a story that is recorded in a book Shrieteh co-authored entitled Beyond the Intifada.” Bob survived his forty day imprisonment in a Saddam Hussein jail and had the professional courage to go back to Baghdad in 1993 and relive and report on those difficult days.

Bob Simon covered both the first and second intifada for CBS News. He has returned many times since to do various stories and interview senior Palestinian and Israeli leaders. His most recent visit for 60 Minutes was focused on the plight of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land. Like a professional he gathered his evidence, made his interviews and then confronted the Israeli ambassador in Washington. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The Holy Family Latin Catholic Church in Ramallah was packed. Palm Sunday usually brings out the entire family and this year was no different. Children in their Sunday best were clutching on beautifully intertwined palm arrangements as they packed into the church compound that also includes the Ahliya School.

But while mass in Ramallah was on April 5th the church bulletin delivered to all Catholic churches in Palestine detailing the service listed Palm Sunday liturgy as taking place on March 29th.

Unlike the Christians of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians in Ramallah have decided since 2007 to unify their holiday calendar which differ based on their respective lunar calculations. Christmas is celebrated based on the Gregorian (western) calendar on the 25th of December while Easter church and popular ceremonies are remembered based on the Orthodox (Eastern calendar). A facebookpage has been established specifically for the need to unit the religious celebrations in Palestine. In Jordan the celebrations have been united since 1979 following an appeal by the late King Hussein. But because of the sensitivity of the mother churches in Jerusalem and the complicated agreement (called status quo agreement) made since the Ottoman rule in 1453 churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem each follow their mother church’s calendar irrespective of the requests of their parishes often differing one or two weeks from each other. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

A boycott declared by Palestinian organizations of six Israeli companies and fruits imported from Israel that have a Palestinian alternative appears to be holding despite some challenges. The decision issued Feb. 9 by a coalition of the main PLO factions called for theboycott of six major Israeli companies: Tnuva, Strauss, Osem, Elite, Prigat and Jafora. Palestinian stores were given two weeks to empty their shelves of the boycotted Israeli products. An attempt by the Israeli dairy company Tnuva to deliver new supplies to Ramallah on March 2 was met with activists destroying the contents in Manara Square in the center of Ramallah.

A visit by Al-Monitor to various supermarkets in Ramallah this month showed none of the targeted products on display. Some shop owners told Al-Monitor that they are smuggling popular products for their loyal customers, but that doesn’t seem to happen in large numbers. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper

By Daoud Kuttab

Israel is heavily engaged in two international cases. The international efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, and world’s desire to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

While the nuclear issue appears to be on its way to being resolved, there is concern that a trade off between the two might take place. All sides deny that the two cases are linked but there is worry that the fierce Israeli opposition to the US and European frame work agreement with Iran could force Washington to make an unethical trade off.

US president Barack Obama is facing a stubborn opposition to the framework agreement from his Republican opponents in congress and even from some of his own fellow democrats. There is no doubt that the opposition in congress could be eased if the Israelis were to suddenly see the light and realize that the P5+1 agreement is not a bad deal but much better than no deal. Both Israel and the US have repeatedly said that they prefer no deal with Iran rather than a bad deal. US Secretary of State John Kerry and  his team have worked tirelessly to produce the frame work agreement that applies the strictest monitoring regime every created against a potentially nuclear country. The framework accord will be expanded to a full agreement by next June. In return the world community agreed that once a full agreement is signed the international boycott of Iran will be totally lifted. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

No one is saying it out loud, but it appears that the Palestinian leadership is choosing to pursue the settlement track rather than the Gaza track in the war crimes efforts against Israel. Palestinians have publicly talked about pursuing in the International Criminal Court (ICC) war crime cases against Israel for the deaths and destruction in Gaza during last summer’s war and for the ongoing illegal settlement activities in the occupied territories.

It appears that the ICC’s prosecutor had already begun examining the Gaza war for possible war crimes back in January, but it appears that this case will take a long time. “There’s no time line, some of the preliminary examinations at the court have been going on for four years,” Richard Dickers, the director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program, told Vice News. “What’s underway is only the first phase of the judicial process.”

The ICC is considered a court of last resort. Its official website states that it “will not act if a case is investigated or prosecuted by a national judicial system unless the national proceedings are not genuine.” Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The state of Palestine officially became a member of the International Criminal Court April1 allowing it to sue Israel for crimes of war. The distance between the ability to sue and an actual conviction is going to be long and arduous and will require a totally new strategy. And such a strategy will require an ingredient that has been missing for year- national unity.

While any new Palestinian strategy must be focused on the ultimate goal of ending the occupation, it is important not to continue using the issue of the ICC as a bargaining chip. Past delays have been made in return for shameful short term gains.

The Palestinian team preparing the case against Israel reportedly has two different areas for which to sue Israel for crimes of war. It can charge Israelis for crimes of war during last summer’s war on Gaza in which 2,200 Palestinians were killed, thousands were injured and buildings including hospitals, schools and homes were demolished. Palestinians can also begin proceedings against Israel for its continued war crimes in the occupied territories namely the colonial settlement activities. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Pundits are wondering why two statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to the Israeli elections and on the day of the elections drew so much attention.

After the elections, Republican leader and former presidential contender John McCaintold US president Barack Obama to “get over your temper tantrum.”

For Israel supporters like McCain, Netanyahu’s statements are merely election rhetoric that can easily be resolved and even erased.

In fact, Netanyahu already slightly backtracked from his pre-election opposition to the two-state solution and also technically apologized to Israel’s Arab citizens.

So some might wonder why the big fuss over these two statements. Well, to understand the depth of the problems caused by these two statements, it is important to understand the two basic components of the world (i.e., US) policy towards Israel.

Washington and many European countries consider Israel a democratic country that fairly and honestly represents all its citizens, and not just the Jewish population.

If the US and other Western countries reached the conclusion that Israel is undemocratic and a religious state, they could not have given it the kind of support (financial, political and military) they have. Continue Reading »