Daoud Kuttab

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that the upcoming Palestinian national unity talks have a better chance at success than in previous times. I am not naive. This optimistic prediction can turn out terribly wrong, but I think the time is now ripe, the parties are much more realistic in their expectations and the public disgust might produce the needed tipping point in favour of genuine reconciliation. Both negative and positive factors appear to favour such national unity among Palestinians today. Continue Reading »

The Arabs and the Olympics

Daoud Kuttab

As we watched the Olympics, my nine-year-old daughter Dina kept on hounding me this week. Where are the Arabs, she kept on asking every time a medal was issued? Where are the Palestinians, where are the Jordanians she kept on asking every time a list of players was flashed on the TV screen.

Although Arab have participated in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and won bronze, silver and even gold, the level and size of the victories certainly don’t reflect the size and abilities of the Arab world. Why? Continue Reading »

Following was published in Bitterlemons

Bitterlemons,  01/09/08

A PALESTINIAN VIEW

Local priorities

by Daoud Kuttab

Whether those supporting the moderate leadership of palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas admit it or not, Hamas appears to have won. Now, before Islamists around the world start celebrating, it is important to note that the region, let alone the world, is far from embracing hard-line fundamentalists. Hamas, for the record, has made some important ideological and practical changes, the most important of which was the “tahdiya” (ceasefire-like quiet).

The signs of Hamas’ victory can be seen all over. From the success of the siege-breaking peace boats to the partial opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the serious talks Hamas leaders are holding with Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence chiefs.

Part of the reason for Hamas’ success is the fact that the region and the world have little choice but to accept the reality that emerged in February 2006 and that Hamas in June 2007, with its takeover of Gaza, served notice was not going away. Continue Reading »

Until my family and I landed in New Jersey in August 2007, I had lost
touch with what it meant to be a US citizen. I had arrived in Jersey
City in 1969 as a 14 year old boy with my family who immigrated from
the Palestinian areas. In 1980 after college and a few jobs, I
returned to east Jerusalem and worked in journalism since. Since then,
I have not spent any extended period in the US. My appointment as a
Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton brought my own family and
I back to New Jersey. Although many of my family members couldn’t
vote, we hungrily consumed the US presidential elections, religiously
following the primary season with all its ups and downs.
Continue Reading »

The following appeared in the Jordan Times and the Jerusalem Post

Daoud Kuttab

Time has played a major role in most negotiations. Whether they are
labour or political negotiations, each side of a conflict waits
literally till the very last minute before revealing its true
position.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas have been quoted as saying that they wish they had just a
little more time to reach a solution to the Middle East conflict.
Continue Reading »

by Daoud Kuttab
Amman, Jordan– Ever since our family returned from the US, I have
been repeatedly asked to compare life in America to life in the
Middle East. For the 2007-’08 academic year I served as a Ferris
Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and a lecturer at the
Near East department.

With our older children working or at college, my wife, Salam, and
our nine year old, Dina, returned to Amman with mixed feelings. I was
happy to be back working as I commuted between my community radio
station in Amman and working as the executive producer in Ramallah of
a new season of shara’a simsim, the Palestinian version of Sesame
street.
Continue Reading »