Palestine, media, Jordan, community radio, online journalism
By Daoud Kuttab Few Palestinians were surprised when a Swiss lab showed that the remains of late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat contained a high quantity of polonium. No protests are expected and nothing seems different outside the Palestinian headquarters in Ramallah. Arafat spent his last days at those headquarters in Palestine before being taken, dressed…
By Daoud Kuttab The Palestinian town of Bethlehem found itself this week in the heart of high-powered Palestinian political discussions and debates. Residents of the city where Christianity began felt the change that included a five-day stay in town by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a visit of Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski (Nov. 5) and meetings with…
By Daoud Kuttab News websites in Jordan have been shaken up ever since the Abdullah Ensour government decided to enforce a controversial law that forces websites that deal with Jordanian news and commentary to obtain a licence, like the newspapers. Unlike the audiovisual law, by equating news websites to newspapers, the legislature has created an unusual…
Following appeared in Jordan Times By Daoud Kuttab Inhabitants of a Palestinian village were told in the late 1930s that the British High Commissioner for Palestine wanted to visit them. As news of the cause for that request was made known, the Palestinian villagers found themselves divided. Some, mostly older people, were happy about the…
By Daoud Kuttab One of the problems of political negotiations without a clear reference point is that the parties, especially the stronger party, can change the rules of the game at will. And the absence of a neutral referee on the field allows such a strong party to get away with regularly moving the…
By Daoud Kuttab Throughout the ages, political leaders have used sports as a tool to unify a nation and to provide the people with a sense of nationalistic pride. The case of Palestine is no different. Despite years of indifference by the Palestinian leadership, few Palestinians will disagree that sports received a huge boost…
By Daoud Kuttab The possibility of the return of former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan to Palestine appears to have improved in recent months. Fatah sources told Al-Monitor that Palestinian Authority President and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has softened his stance toward the former member of Fatah’s Central Committee. The sources, however, cautioned against early celebrations by…
This appeared in Columbia Journalism Review magazine. By Alice Su When Hazm al-Mazouni shows his press pass at the entrance to the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, the guards don’t let him in. A 42-year-old native of Hama, Syria, Al-Mazouni’s status in Jordan is clear: refugee. But the guards are wary of…