By Daoud Kuttab

During the past few decades, one can easily and accurately trace times in which world powers (especially the US) were able to influence a political process.

At least two Israeli elections come to mind: the victory of Labor’s Yitshaq Rabin replacing Yitshaq Shamir in the early 1990s and not long after that, the victory of Ehud Barak and the defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu. In both cases, the US was looking for a leader that could usher in a peace process and in both cases, they seem to have gotten what they want. This time around, the US seems to be interested in getting rid of Netanyahu but is unlikely to succeed.

There is no doubt that both Rabin and Barak, both decorated military leaders, are strong characters that don’t need the help of outsiders. Ironically, the current roster of contenders for the top position in the upcoming Israeli elections don’t have any army experience to speak of. Neither Netanyahu, Zipi Livni nor Shelly Yachimovich can compare militarily to either Rabin or Barak. Continue Reading »

Daoud Kuttab

When the leaders of the two conflicting Palestinian organizations meet in Cairo, they will have a long, hard set of problems to resolve. Some of these problems continue to exist between the two leaders, but the bigger problems exist between the leaders and their own radicals. This latter problem is more acute with Hamas whose Gaza-based leaders have often vetoed decisions made by Khaled Meshaal on the outside.

Both Mahmoud Abbas and Meshaal enter the current round of reconciliation talks from a position of strength and popular support. Abbas is carrying with him in Egypt two impressive winning cards. He succeeded in unifying the entire Palestinian population, including his Hamas rivals, in supporting the bid at the UN for Palestinian statehood. The leader of the Fatah movement also begins intensive talks with his movement having displaying an impressive public event in Gaza on Jan. 4. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Whenever I travel from Jordan to the state of Palestine, I have to use three different cell-phone devices, each with a different SIM card. I need to keep my regular Zain Jordanian cell and therefore I put it on phone roaming. But in Palestine I need to use two other cell phones.  Jawwal, the leading Palestinian cell company is a must whenever you are anywhere in Palestine; most people have Jawwal numbers and to ask them to call any other service provider would be a financial burden on them.  Palestine does have a second provider, wataniya, but this new provider doesn’t have the same agreement with Zain as Jawwal, which allows you to receive calls from Jordanian Zain subscribers when you are in Palestine without extra charge. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Despite the positive tone of the Abbas-Meshaal meetings in Cairo, it is safe to say that the long-awaited breakthrough in the Hamas-Fatah talks has not yet materialized. Maybe the best evidence for that failure lies in the fact that the two Palestinian leaders were not invited by the Egyptian president for a tripartite meeting.

Observers of the flow of the talks can look for three key areas that reflect whether the talks have produced the desired outcome of full Palestinian unity, and the return of a single governmental/security command structure for both the partially-liberated Gaza and the still-occupied West Bank. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab
For a long time, Palestinians followed the Israeli elections very closely. They were aware of who was up, who was down, the platforms of every party in Israel and how each’s victory or loss could affect the coalition and the peace process.

Today in Palestine, there is no such interest — and it is not clear why. Is it because Palestinians see little difference between the various competing politicians? Is it because the peace process is not a major topic of discussion among Israelis, or simply that the media terrain has changed so much in the past few years? Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

While so-called leaders of the Palestinian resistance from Fatah and Hamas were traveling to Egypt to hold talks in five star hotels, another group of Palestinians were actually doing work worthy of the words “liberation and resistance.”

By Daoud Kuttab

The decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to go to the UN to seek statehood recognition has become a defining element in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

After nearly 20 years of time wasted in useless negotiations, the Palestinian leader has finally decided, in a measured way, to buck the system and carry out an important, unilateral, act.

The Oslo accords do state that neither Palestinians nor Israelis are supposed to take unilateral action that can prejudge the final outcome of negotiations. But while Palestinians obediently respected this clause, the Israelis were busy expanding Jewish colonies, confiscating Palestinian land for Jewish settlements and barring Palestinians from developing outside their restricted city limits. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Israeli security officials have been unable to clearly identify what is happening in the occupied state of Palestine, as the lack of a credible peace process leaves a big vacuum.

Early in January, Colonel Yaniv Alaluf told soldiers the third Intifada has already begun. His statement, which was reproduced in Arab and Israeli media, was intended to reflect the state of uneasiness and unrest the Palestinians are feeling as the window of hope and opportunity quickly shuts down for the young Palestinian population.

While Alaluf’s statement might not be reflected in any major way in the level of violence in the occupied West Bank, it could be true in ways that the Israeli commander probably never realized. Continue Reading »