Following appeared in the Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

When Palestinian negotiators enter the Jerusalem hotel designated for the face-to-face negotiations with their Israeli counterparts on Wednesday, they would complete falling into a well-planned negotiations trap.

Palestinians have committed themselves to participate in the talks for the next nine months, irrespective of what Israel does on the ground. The Israelis, who carefully laid this trap, have already reaped the benefits of knowing that no matter what they do Palestinians are highly unlikely to walk out of the talks. The Israeli Cabinet’s announcement of hundreds of settlement tenders in Jerusalem and other West Bank areas proves that Israel has the upper hand in this process.

The setting up of this trap began when the Israelis realised that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was intent on obtaining the release of some 100 fedayeen that were the foot soldiers of the PLO over 20 years ago. At the time, these fighters received orders from PLO leaders like Yasser Arafat and Abbas and carried out military operations against Israelis. These soldiers, who were captured and sentenced, had been left to rot in Israeli jails while their leaders were free in Tunisia and were later given permission to return to Palestine and take over the Palestinian Authority. Arafat and the PLO had always asked for their release and in fact in 1999 as part of the Sharm El Sheikh agreement their release was agreed. But they were not freed when the second Intifada erupted in October 2000. When the current talks began, Abbas made the release of these pre-Oslo prisoners his personal crusade. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

As Palestinian and Israeli negotiators begin their second round of peace talks with a special focus on borders and security, an entirely Israeli set of judges will decide the fate of one Palestinian community south of Hebron.

The area, known to Palestinians as Masafer Yatta, spans over 12,200 cultivated dunums and contains 12 villages with a total population of over 1,300 people. On the other side of the Green Line separating Israel from the occupied territories is the Israeli Nahal Brigade training base in Tel Arad, just inside the 1949 armistice lines.

The Israeli army, by virtue of sheer military power and might, has turned the entire area across the border into a firing zone. Firing Zone 918, as this zone is called, is one of dozens of such zones that cover nearly 18% of the occupied West Bank. Almost all of the Jordan Valley area, which Israel has repeatedly said they will not relinquish in any peace deal, is considered a military firing zone. No Palestinians are allowed to build in or develop such areas. Continue Reading »