By Daoud Kuttab

Two crucial problems are taking place simultaneously in the occupied West Bank this week. Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation is quickly worsening, and the economic situation is reaching a point of real danger. All together this dangerous combination can easily result in major breakout of violence.

Teachers went on nationwide general strike [Dec. 19-20] protesting the failure of the Palestinian Authority to pay their salaries, causing major disruptions throughout the Palestinian areas. The general strike produced a short-term reprieve when it was announced that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the Palestinian Monetary Authority convinced local banks to advance the PA $100 million to provide partial payment to the teachers expected by the middle of next week. The Palestinian Authority has been promised a safety net from the Arab League which apparently kicks in only in the new year. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

In most countries electricity generation and distribution is a government regulated monopoly. It’s no different in Jerusalem.

Electricity concessions for Jerusalem was granted  to Greek national Yorbides Mifrotes in 1914 when it was under Turkish rule. After international litigation the concession was passed on to the Jerusalem Electric Co. in 1926. Under Jordanian rule the company expanded its operation to include nearby cities and villages in the north,  south and east of the city. A board of trustees was set up made up of representatives of the mayors of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah, Al Bireh and later Jericho. In 1953 Jordan had to agree to an Israeli request to set up an Israeli electricity company to supply power to the parts of the city that had become Israel. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Like most journalists, Mohammad Abu Arqoub loves to chat with taxi drivers to gauge the public mood. In the trip from the center of town to his house in the Raffidya neighborhood, Arqoub, who is also a lecturer at the Al Quds University in Ramallah, wanted to know what people in Nablus where thinking on the occasion of Hamas’ 25th anniversary. Hamas had just concluded a public demonstration that thousands of its supporters attended.

By Daoud Kuttab

When the leadership of the Fatah movement nominated little known Bethlehem University English literature Professor Vera Baboun to run for mayor of the city, few expected her to win. She ran against well-known male candidates as well as individuals supported by Islamists and left-wing Palestinians. But she surprised all on Oct. 20 and won the office of mayor along with the majority of the city’s 15 council seats.

By Daoud Kuttab

When Palestinian student activists in Kuwait decided that they needed to take matters into their own hands to liberate Palestine, they chose Lebanon as the country that they wanted to launch the first armed attack against the “Zionists” on the first day of 1965.

Those planning for and supporting the attack issued their first press release in Kuwait. They weren’t sure how to sign it. They called their movement Harakat al-Taharur al-Watania al-Falastinia — the Palestinian National Liberation Movement. They wanted a shorter name and tried to figure out the movement’s acronym as a guide. The Arabic acronym, spelled HATF (doom), was unappealing. So the young leaders reversed the letters to come up with Fatah. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

following appeared in the Jordan Times, Dec 19, 2012

Abdel Bari Atwan is well-known to Arab audiences. The editor of the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi is known for his fiery patriotic and anti-Western interviews on major satellite televisions. A major supporter of the Arab revolutions, Atwan lived up to his no-nonsense reputation when he appeared this week on Jordan’s independent station Roya TV. However, something strange happened when the discussion came to the issue of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation.

The Gaza-born Palestinian, now a UK citizen, was mellow and supportive of the idea on condition that it takes place after Palestinian independence, and not on the basis of the UN declaration of Palestinian statehood. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

King Abdullah’s wishes that Jordan will have three political parties (right center and left) will most certainly be dashed once he hears from the registration results independent election’s commission.  Sixty one parties and lists featuring 824 candidates (among them only 88 women) will be competing for mere 27 national seats in the 150 seat expanded 17the parliament while 698 candidates (among them 196 women) will compete for the remaining 123 local seats.

While it will take years to reach the King’s ideal of three major parties, the closed lists have introduced a system where politicians (and tribal leaders) albeit not so successful to create alliances and coalitions that can bring in the large numbers needed to win nation-wide seats. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Two narratives are competing for the hearts and minds of Palestinians, regarding the best way to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine: one military, the other nonviolent.

Two narratives are competing for the hearts and minds of Palestinians, regarding the best way to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine: one military, the other nonviolent.Each has strong arguments, but neither has produced any result yet. Both narratives were being displayed in parallel fashion this month. The PLO will seek statehood through the UN, while Hamas sought to convince the Israelis to quit their occupation through the use of rockets. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Freedom of expression is guaranteed and will be practiced in accordance to the law. Freedom of religious practice is safeguarded and will be regulated by law. Citizen are equal regardless of religion, gender or background and this equality will be exercised through law. Elections are free and fair and shall be guaranteed to all citizens in accordance to the law.

The above statements or similar versions often appear in constitutions and are paraded as proof that a particular country safeguards its citizens’ universal human and civil rights. However, upon closer scrutiny, one discovers that any constitutional clause that ends with the term “in accordance to the law” is actually void of the kind of guarantees one expects from a constitution. Because once a guarantee is conditioned by law, a particular legislative body is actually allowed to work out the details of the law rather than allow the right to stand on its own. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The Jordanian Cabinet’s decision to scrap wintertime came at the most difficult time: one day before a long holiday and also one day before the original plan to start wintertime. Furthermore, the rationale for the decision was never fully discussed and defended by those taking it.

For years, Jordanian governments determined the seasonal time changes arbitrarily. Recently, this policy became more structured and institutional. A decision was made declaring the last Friday of March and of October as the day when the new time changes take effect.

This decision was obviously passed on to various local, regional and international bodies. Royal Jordanian and other airlines, Microsoft and other computer companies, as well as telephone companies were all aware that on midnight of October 25 this year, for example, Jordan shifts its clock one hour. Continue Reading »