By Daoud Kuttab

The passing away of the leader of the South African liberation movement, Nelson Mandela, at the age of 95 brings to the forefront historic and parallel comparisons between the African national movement led by the African National Congress (ANC) and that of Palestinians led by the Palestine Liberation Organization. For years, the two movements were entwined and mutually supportive. But whereas the ANC under Mandela succeeded in liberating its people, the Palestinians have not fared as well.

The Palestinian and African cases are similar and different. The two causes reflect historical injustice and Western support of the domineering regimes. The collusion of so many countries, especially in the Western hemisphere, that profess support for self-determination and human rights with oppressive regimes is well-documented. In both Palestine and South Africa, the refusal to grant freedoms and inalienable rights was excused by a well-structured and powerful international dehumanization campaign that branded resistance against discrimination and occupation with derogatory terms such as terrorism.

Both Palestinians and South Africans adopted various forms of resistance including violent and nonviolent means, and both were met with brutal and exaggerated force with the aim of putting down any type of resistance. Military and political opponents of the ruling powers who survived physical assault were put in jail simply for their thoughts and public political support to their own liberation movements that were declared “terrorist.”  Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

When US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the region this week, he is certain to find Palestinian expectations at an all-time low regarding any possible breakthrough in the peace talks with Israel. The dual resignations of Mohammad Shtayyeh and Saeb Erekat (who later rescinded his) reflect the Palestinians’ general lack of faith in the negotiations, but also their desire not to burn any bridges, just in case.

More than halfway through the nine-month commitment to talks, the negotiations aim of producing a final package means that nothing will be agreed to until everything is agreed to. Not a single disputed issue can be checked off as being resolved along the way. Both sides will likely cling to their position on every controversial area until the very last minute.

Kerry’s visit might jolt Palestinians from a deep nap, after having shifted their attention from the political process to worrying about internal issues, such as the current teachers’ strike.

A senior activist close to the office of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) told Al-Monitor that if the talks appear to be going nowhere, the pressure will increase on Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to produce some tangible results on the ground. Such “carrots” could be in the form of easing movement for Palestinians within the West Bank as well as among the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge to Jordan. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

A partial Palestinian teachers strike last weekend turned into a full strike on Monday, Dec. 2, with plans to hold a demonstration outside the prime minister’s office on Tuesday. The Palestinian government thought that it could avert the full strike when it won a decision by the Palestinian High Court of Justice calling on the Teachers Union to delay the strike until the government has a chance to remedy some of the complaints.

But the teachers defied the court decision, claiming that they were not officially informed of the ruling and that they only heard about it in the media. A meeting late Sunday night between the head of the teachers union, Ahmad Suheil, and President Mahmoud Abbas failed to break the deadlock.

More than 1 million Palestinian students in the West Bank, including those sitting for the matriculation exams, have been affected by the strike. Schools in East Jerusalem have received a waiver from the strike because of their unique and sensitive situation.

The strike by the powerful teachers union comes only two months after a previous agreement was reached between the union and the Palestinian government. The Sept. 5 compromise was declared by the teachers union head a “unique and historic” deal. The agreement included a 10% increase in teachers’ salaries to be implemented in two stages, the first at the start of 2014. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

As is often the case, the news concerning the circumstances of the Nov. 27 Israeli killings of three Palestinian men is being told from one side because the other side is unable to be respond or be heard.

The undisputed facts are that members of the Israeli army stopped a vehicle carrying three Palestinian male passengers. They killed two of the passengers at that time, and the third apparently ran away but was later killed as well.

The official Israeli version is that the army had been tracking the occupants of the car for a few days when they were spotted in an area under its control. The army claims that the Israelis shot out the tires and after a short exchange, two Palestinians — Mahmoud Khalid al-Najjar and Mousa Makhamra — were killed, and a third — Mohammad Nayroukh — was chased and killed. The Israelis, who say that they recovered pistols and bomb equipment in the possession of the Palestinians, have made unsubstantiated statements that the three were planning to carry out operations against Israeli and Palestinian government targets.

Nasser Laham, editor of Ma’an News, criticized the Palestinian government’s silence on the killings, arguing that the Palestinians have allowed the Israeli narrative to prevail in tact. Ma’an, in its Arabic edition, provided sketchy information about the incident, but asserted that Nayroukh had managed to get to a nearby clinic in Yatta, where he died from his wounds. No eyewitnesses have been quoted to back up the Israeli version of events. Continue Reading »

by Daoud Kuttab

As the Christmas season approaches and as tourism to the Holy Land rises, the fight over holy sites has also escalated. The Palestinian Ministry of Information published on its website a report citing an official complaint by the Palestinian ambassador in Rome, Mai al-Kalia, against Israel, which is trying to appropriate Bethlehem.

According to the Palestinian ministry, the Israeli tourism office in Rome has published touristic literature stating that “Israel, thanks to a wide range of unique sites such as the old port of Jaffa, and Nazareth, Jerusalem and Tiberias, Bethlehem, Capernaum, Masada, the Dead Sea, Fort Herod and caves near Qumran …” Four of the sites mentioned lie in the Palestinian territories, but Israel is advertising them as part of Israel in an attempt to attract Christian pilgrims from Italy.

The Palestinian diplomat, according to the report, will file an official complaint to the Italian Foreign Ministry accusing the Israeli tourism office of publishing “false information.”

Palestinian efforts in Italy have been matched by a popular movement in Bethlehem itself. Young Palestinians holding signs in different languages protested outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Nov. 28. Their message was simple: Bethlehem is a Palestinian town. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

After the signing of a breakthrough agreement between the world community and Iran, the question on Palestinian lips now is how this affects the Palestinian cause and specifically the current Palestinian-Israeli talks. On the surface, the questions seem strange as there is no direct relationship between the Iranian nuclear file and the Palestinian issue. But in reality the signing of the agreement, especially in light of Israel’s public opposition to it, puts Israel’s relationship with its biggest ally, the United States, in a difficult situation.

Washington’s apparent unwillingness to take Israel’s public opposition to the Iran deal into consideration puts a major question mark on future relations between the United States and Israel.

Israel’s criticism of the White House could go in at least two opposing directions. The United States can use the success of this unprecedented international consensus and move in a more aggressive direction to press Israel to make serious concession in the peace talks. It might also be more willing to put forward new ideas for solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in the Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

On the surface, it is hard to see any direct link between the recently concluded deal by Iran and the P5+1 group and the Palstinian-Israeli peace talks. If, as the world community believes, this deal makes the world safer, then it should speed up, rather than slowdown, the resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

But the reality is different.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made the Iran issue such a big part of his foreign policy rhetoric that losing it will potentially be felt on other fronts.

The effect of the Iran deal on the peace process is bound to be more psychological than any other. The Israelis claim that they were backstabbed by their American allies and therefore the trust factor between Tel Aviv and Washington is at an all-time low. Israeli leaders did not try to publicly water down their anger at the White House who they say has approved a “historic mistake”.

The irony is that the Israeli anger with the US should normally lead to an equal reaction from America, which would potentially make Israel lose its strongest ally in the region.

A neutral US vis-à-vis the Israel-Palestine conflict would be a huge bonanza for Palestinians.

However, the problem is that when Israel gets angry with the US, America starts looking for ways to please its spoiled child rather than simply ignore it. Israel will clearly not pay a political price for its public criticism of the US, nor will the Americans lessen their total, unflinching support for Israel. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

George Kanawati has become a well-known name in the Bethlehem area. The popularity of the director of the city’s longest-running radio station and anchor of its popular morning show is not simply from his journalistic work. Radio Bethlehem 2000’s top journalist has been embroiled in quite a few battles with various governmental agencies, the latest of which landed him in prison and gave him a black eye.

While the Israeli restriction on Palestinian movement for journalists continues without any sign of easing, the main challenge for Palestinian journalists has become more local. Palestinian officials appear to be less tolerant to criticism and seem to be acting with impunity despite strong opposition by the Palestinian Journalists Union and human rights organizations.

Kanawati’s case has been going on for some time and the tit for tat between him and various government officials is being dealt with in the courts. But the latest episode between Kanawati and the director of the Bethlehem police appears to have taken a different route. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The bustling town of al-Ram, with a population of over 25,000, is strategically located between Jerusalem and Ramallah. For a long time, the town’s geography was its blessing. Today, it has become its curse.

Al-Ram’s main entrance was once the Jerusalem-Ramallah road just past the suburbs of Shufat, Beit Hanina and Dahiyat al-Barid. But then the wall was built, dividing half of Dahiyat al-Barid and placing the entire town of al-Ram on the other side of the wall away from its normal access from either side of the Jerusalem-Ramallah road. All shops, including the recently opened branch of the Arab Bank, that were once on the main road suddenly found themselves facing a 10-meter-high wall with no access to either Jerusalem or Ramallah. To get to the two main cities, one must now exit the rear of the town, which is the most poorly maintained, least properly zoned part.

The population of al-Ram, made up almost entirely of east Jerusalemites with Israeli blue ID cards and yellow licensed Israeli car plates, suddenly found themselves surrounded and isolated. Residents must now take the long way to get to school, work or any other location that used to take minutes to reach. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

France has always been a country that cares first and foremost about itself, which is normal, but sometimes it is so calculating that it comes across as not caring and spineless.
France is a huge economic exporter to the Arab world. Its wheat and military exports to Saudi Arabia and the Arab world are literally in the billions of euros.
At the same time, France is a founding member of the European Union, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a strong member of any Western alliance of which the US is the leader. This means that Paris has to balance its interests with the Arab world with its role in the Western alliance.
A month ago, France was eager to attack Syria for its use of chemical weapons, only to see America suddenly back off as a result of an agreement with Russia.
In the Middle East conflict, the French have been slightly leaning in favor of the Arab position while maintaining its good relations with both Israel and the US. For years, Arab leaders and ideologues have romanticized France’s role as the savior of Palestinians and the Arab world, only to be regularly disappointed when nothing happened.
France’s political calculation and attempts to be seen as neutral sometimes come close to being absurd. Continue Reading »