By Daoud Kuttab / Sharm el Sheikh

The Gaza Reconstruction conference was a busy affair. Speakers gave talks governments and foundations made pledges and politicians debated all day. In the end it was left to the key players to tell the press about the results of the all day event. The Egyptian and Norwegian Foreign Ministers along with the Palestinian Prime Minister gave the press an accounting of the days work. Numbers were thrown, financing mechanisms were discussed and next steps were expounded on.

Next came the US Secretary of State, Hillay Clinton. She gave a short opening remark about how pleased she was to be in Sharm el Sheikh and how happy she was with the progress made at the conference. The question and answer period was short, I wanted to ask a question but was not picked on. The last question to Mrs. Clinton from an Egyptian journalist was a simple one. Do you believe that a Palestinian state will be declared within a year. She could have easily deflected the question but she didn’t instead she gave a passionate answer about how she entered politics because she believes in defending children and that she and her team will do everything possible to make sure that this dream does turn into a reality. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab/ Sharm el Sheikh

A resounding and unanimous international message of support was sounded in the Red sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh March 2 with the participation of world leaders. Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UN Secretary General and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were joined with foreign ministers as well as representatives of regional and international organizations, and foundations.
Ironically two key groups were absent from the meeting. Israel and Hamas.
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By Daoud Kuttab
blogging with the US secretary of state’s press corps in Sharm el Sheikh

Despite the clarity of the conference title the US will provide far more help to the Palestinian Authority and the people of the West Bank than to the people of Gaza In a press briefing on the eve of the “International conference in support of the Palestinian economy of the reconstruction of Gaza” Robert Wood, the Acting US state department spokesman failed to convince the US traveling press corps and a Palestinian blogger that America is indeed coming to help the people of Gaza.
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