Following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper

By Daoud Kuttab

After the collapse of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, in April, the July war on Gaza, the August drowning of hundreds trying to emigrate to Europe and the September war of words between their two major factions, Palestinians welcomed this week a series of unexpectedly good news.

This began with the announcement by the newly elected Swedish prime minister that his Social Democratic coalition with the Greens Party will recognise the state of Palestine.

That was followed by a donor conference in Cairo for the reconstruction of Gaza, where Palestinian expectations were exceeded by the pledging of $5.4 billion to that aim.

The Palestinian unity government headed by Rami Hamdallah met in Gaza for the first time and President Mahmoud Abbas is now due to visit Gaza.

London was the source of yet more good news. The British House of Commons held a public debate on the need to recognise Palestine as a state; a huge majority (274 for, 12 against) of British MPs voted for Palestine.

At home, a public opinion poll showed strong support for the Palestinian unity government.

Abbas’ favourability numbers doubled, with Gazans showing much more support for the Palestinian leader than for Hamas.

Even the Israelis are showing some flexibility regarding Gaza, allowing, for the first time, Palestinians from Gaza to visit Jerusalem for Eid Al Adha and permitting in the first shipment of building material.

Some in Israel are admitting that the seven-year-old blockade on the Gaza Strip proved ineffective. Continue Reading »