By Daoud Kuttab

Predicting the next Intifada, or popular outbreak, is next to impossible.

The past years have seen many predictions of an imminent third Intifada, only to have these expectations proven wrong.

While prophesying a wave of mass protests is difficult, one can look back at the last two Intifadas and the many smaller Intifadas and point out the ingredients that can possibly cause the third uprising.

One major ingredient of a popular uprising is the sense of hopelessness.

In 1987, 20 years after the Israeli occupation and eight years after the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement, there was no sign of a political process that would lead to the end of the occupation.

In 2000, similar disenchantment occurred, this time not because of the absence of a peace process but because of the failure of one. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

For the first time in decades, a major confrontation is about to take place in the Middle East in which Palestinians are totally uninvolved. The expected attack against Syria and the potential for the widening of the theater of war to neighboring countries has so far totally excluded Palestine. One informal chart shows lines of support and hatred between the various countries and parties in the region, with no mention of Palestine and Palestinians.

Part of the reason for confidence that Palestinians will not be on the receiving end of any retaliatory attack is the simple fact that in all direct and indirect threats by the Syrian government against Israel, Turkey and Jordan, the Palestinians have never been mentioned. In fact, Syrians, and for that matter, many other Arab regional powers, are competing to support Palestinians the most. Continue Reading »