By Daoud Kuttab

The presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. president, Mitt Romney, gave himself the authority to declare a cultural war in West Jerusalem this week.

As part of his efforts to woo wealthy Jewish donors to contribute to his campaign, he declared that nations are better off because of culture and indirectly suggested that Israel be added to America’s exceptionalism theory. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The past two and a half decades witnessed the slow death of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO, established in June 1964 by the Arab League and then taken over internally by the various resistance movements, led by Fateh, is credited with the unification of the Palestinians in the diaspora. It is also seen as the main factor that reignited the Palestinian identity in pursuit of national liberation. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The belief in Palestine is that the office of the president is responsible for major national and international policies and initiatives, while the office of the prime minister is responsible for executing these policies.

For the most part, this has been the norm in Palestine’s temporary capital, Ramallah. The West Bank-Gaza split and attempts to reunite the two Palestinian enclaves have been solely the responsibility of President Mahmoud Abbas. Until now. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Something deep and painful was broken in Ramallah this week: along with the bones broken by violent Palestinian plainclothes and official security officials dealing with a protest, Palestinian trust was permanently wounded.

The protests were called for by non-partisan youth protesting the intended, unprecedented, visit by the Israeli vice premier, Shaul Mofaz, to Ramallah. Palestinian protesters made a strong argument for their opposition to the Mofaz visit. Continue Reading »

following appeared in today’s Jordan Times

For Investigative Journalism

by Daoud Kuttab

In celebrating the successful investigative journalism feat carried out recently in private centres that house children with disabilities in Jordan, King Abdullah hosted at the Royal Palace two women Jordanian journalists who are involved in investigative journalism.

The meeting reveals much about what is needed for investigative journalism to get a major push in Jordan.

In welcoming Radio Al Balad’s Hanan Khandakji and Jordan TV’s Suha Karaja, King Abdullah praised the courage of the young journalists. The Jordan news agency, Petra, quoted His Majesty as saying, correctly, that investigative journalism is an important tool for monitoring and accountability. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stunned Israelis Tuesday morning with a political shocker. He convinced his largest opposition leader, Shaul Mofaz, to join the coalition, thus cancelling early elections scheduled for September.

Speaking to the media, Netanyahu said that the coalition agreement (called by some in the Israeli media a stink bomb) is good for the stability of his government and for Israel.

His new coalition partner, who will now become Israel’s first deputy prime minister, listed four areas of agreement as the basis for this partnership. The two parties will develop a replacement for the Tal Law that used to exempt religious students from the Israeli army; they will pass a new budget; Israel’s political system will be revamped and the new coalition is said to push ahead the peace process. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The question seemed simple. A European official wanted to know if the peace was just around the corner, or far away.

On the surface of it, one can tick off a number of positive signals. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators recently exchanged letters outlying their various political positions as to the best way forward. Israel’s current expanded coalition government is large enough to be able to take difficult decisions without the fear of any small faction blackmailing the government. Europe seems to be united in its single-minded push to ensure that the peace process moves forward without any more delay. The U.S. will most likely return to the issue after the November elections. The Arab Spring is moving forward and bringing more popularly supported leaders who are unlikely to be very friendly to Israel. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

For years the Arab world has been searching for the perfect Arab democratic model. Progressive young Arabs want a Western-style democratic model, but older democrats argue that we have to discover our own model, not copy and paste models from this or that country.

Islam, of course, confused this search. Islamists appeared to want an Islamic model that no one could explain or point to an existing example. Iran was not seen as a successful model and neither was Afghanistan. Turkey was touted by some as a model, although the country is totally secular even if its current leader has an Islamic approach. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

This week, two totally different cases saw real progress towards resolution due to persistence, focus on achievable results and the use of nonviolent means. Palestinian prisoners and supporters of their just and reasonable requests in Palestine, the Arab world, and the international community saw a successful resolution of their demands. Continue Reading »