By Daoud Kuttab

Just when it appeared that the United States was about to wash its hands from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, new information is emerging from Washington indicating the opposite.

Many observers of U.S. foreign policy understand that in an election year, the U.S. is unable to articulate a coherent (and possibly confrontational with the pro-Israel lobby) strategy in regards to the Palestinian conflict.  The day after President Barack Obama won a hard-fought electoral battle in which the Israeli prime minister clearly and publicly favored his opponent, many expected that the U.S. president would immediately shift to a more genuinely neutral policy towards the Middle East conflict. That may still happen, but foreign policy, like everything else, can’t be carried out without a well thought-out strategy, action plan and most importantly individuals who will carry the baton and implement it. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

It was no coincidence that Israeli representatives boycotted the Jan. 29 meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, at which Israel’s record was to be reviewed. They had been aware for months that a three-person fact-finding mission headed by French judge Christine Chanet would be extremely critical of Israel. In fact, according to press reports, the Israelis had sought, and were granted, a delay in the publication of the mission’s report until after elections in Israel held Jan. 22. The report identifies Israel’s ongoing settlement activity as a serious breach of international humanitarian law and calls on Israel to withdraw all Jewish settlers from the occupied territories. One member of the mission details Israeli violations since 1967. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

As if the Palestinian people didn’t have enough problems with the occupation and the political splits, we are now experiencing a new controversy, this time a social one.

The problem began last Sunday, Jan. 27, when the board of trustees of Al Aqsa University voted unanimously to impose a “dress code” on female students. The new guidelines include that in addition to the head cover (hijab), all female students must wear the jilbab — the long loose jacket-like cover that extends to the feet, thus not showing any curves in the woman’s body. While this appears to be a binding decision, the statement from the university said that no punishment will be given to those refusing to comply with the dress-code order, but that attempts to change such students’ behavior will be applied through “persuasion” rather than punishment. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

After months of discussions and debates, the parliamentary election season in Jordan is finally upon us, and it exposes numerous flaws and weaknesses.

Jordanians spent the better part of 2012 arguing about the best elections law for the country. In the aftermath of the Jordanian Arab Spring, many wanted an elections law that can usher in a new, more robust, representative parliamentary government. From the look of things, the 17th Parliament of Jordan will most likely resemble the 16th or the ones before it. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

“The people have spoken, the voters have decided and I bow to the will of citizens and accept the election result.”

This sentence or a variation of it is often spoken to the press by candidates who lose elections, often after having made a congratulatory phone call to the winning candidates.

For the most part, however, accepting results and taking responsibility for what happened on election day did not happen after the elections for the 17th Parliament in Jordan. Most losing candidates spent their time making accusations or complaining of voting irregularities. Many encouraged their supporters to take to the streets and riot, often causing damage to public and private property, while the Independent Elections Commission had stated clearly that those losing have a chance to go to court to contest the results. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in Jordan times.

By Daoud Kuttab

Even before a single vote was counted and results announced, it was clear who were the main winners and losers. And for the most part, they were not the candidates.

The biggest winner in the Jordanian legislative elections was the state. It bargained on the public and the international community ignoring the absence of the Islamists in the elections.

Conversely, the Islamic Action Front and some of the small secular parties that joined the boycotters are the biggest losers. By calling for a boycott without being able to make it the main story of the elections, the Islamists overreached and failed. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The ambiguous results of the Israeli elections have left Palestinians with an attitude best embodied by the novel of the late Palestinian novelist Emile Habibi, a pessoptimist. Palestinians were dumbfounded by the unanticipated and unclear results, which have left them torn between feelings of optimism and pessimism.

There were plenty of reasons to be pessimistic, which is why expectations were low that the results would actually effect any sort of real change. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Despite claims to the contrary, the Palestinian reconciliation effort appears to have hit a snag of some sort. Publicly, both Fatah and Hamas leaders are insisting that the musalaha is going ahead and that a unified, agreed-to government will be declared by the end of the month. Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk publicly stated that the Islamic movement accepts the Doha agreement concerning the next prime minister of the state of Palestine, who will be the current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. On the ground, statements coming out of Gaza suggest that the Central Elections Committee, which was stopped from work last summer, will be invited back next week. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

During the past few decades, one can easily and accurately trace times in which world powers (especially the US) were able to influence a political process.

At least two Israeli elections come to mind: the victory of Labor’s Yitshaq Rabin replacing Yitshaq Shamir in the early 1990s and not long after that, the victory of Ehud Barak and the defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu. In both cases, the US was looking for a leader that could usher in a peace process and in both cases, they seem to have gotten what they want. This time around, the US seems to be interested in getting rid of Netanyahu but is unlikely to succeed.

There is no doubt that both Rabin and Barak, both decorated military leaders, are strong characters that don’t need the help of outsiders. Ironically, the current roster of contenders for the top position in the upcoming Israeli elections don’t have any army experience to speak of. Neither Netanyahu, Zipi Livni nor Shelly Yachimovich can compare militarily to either Rabin or Barak. Continue Reading »

Daoud Kuttab

When the leaders of the two conflicting Palestinian organizations meet in Cairo, they will have a long, hard set of problems to resolve. Some of these problems continue to exist between the two leaders, but the bigger problems exist between the leaders and their own radicals. This latter problem is more acute with Hamas whose Gaza-based leaders have often vetoed decisions made by Khaled Meshaal on the outside.

Both Mahmoud Abbas and Meshaal enter the current round of reconciliation talks from a position of strength and popular support. Abbas is carrying with him in Egypt two impressive winning cards. He succeeded in unifying the entire Palestinian population, including his Hamas rivals, in supporting the bid at the UN for Palestinian statehood. The leader of the Fatah movement also begins intensive talks with his movement having displaying an impressive public event in Gaza on Jan. 4. Continue Reading »