Sep 05 2013
Why do Palestinian Israeli talks need nine months?
Following appeared in Jordan Times and Huffington Post
By Daoud Kuttab
As the world is riveted to the Syrian crisis, it may surprise many to know that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are still going on.
The talks, held in secret, do not appear to have achieved any discernible results yet. The absence of information, however, should not be used to indicate that the negotiators are doing nothing important.
Still, the issue of negotiations and time must be addressed clearly and frankly.
Most observers of negotiations would argue that parties to any set of talks rarely reveal their bottom line until the very end.
The hundreds of hours committed to the peace process have probably produced answers to all possible scenarios. What is needed is not negotiations but political decisions. Continue Reading »