by Daoud Kuttab

A flurry of visits by Arab and Islamic officials to East Jerusalem in the past few weeks has left Palestinians wondering what is happening.

Prince Hashem visited Jerusalem followed by a joint visit of Prince Ghazi and Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa. The head of Jordan’s security service, Hussein Majali, was the last to visit. His visit was followed by statements from Palestinian Islamic waqf officials and the Israeli media that an important leader would be visiting soon. Continue Reading »

this was published on bitterlemons.com

To be trusted, Mofaz should begin dismantling the occupation
by Daoud Kuttab

Israeli politicians are very good at negotiating with themselves. Shaul Mofaz is not much different. The Mofaz plan that apparently helped propel him to the top of the Kadima party suggests that Israel would cede some ten percent of the territories in the West Bank as a first step towards the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state. Continue Reading »

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu
State of Israel
H.E. Prime Minister Netanyahu:
In 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Declaration of Principles (The Oslo Accords) and exchanged letters of mutual recognition with the Government of Israel.

The Declaration of Principles defined its aim as the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 which would begin with a transitional period, and culminate with negotiations on the all final status issues including Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees, water, security, relations with neighboring countries, and other matters of mutual interest. Over the years, we included end of the conflict and claims, and the release of prisoners and detainees to these final status issues. May 1999 was set as the date by which negotiations on all final status issues would be completed and a comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides would be reached. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Easter is celebrated in Jerusalem and surrounding Palestinians cities both religiously and culturally. Children wave beautifully weaved palm leaves on Palm Sunday, Boy Scout-led marches celebrate Sabt el Noor (Holy Fire), when the light comes out of the Church of the Holy Seplechure and is welcomed with marching bands in towns with Palestinian Christian populations such as Ramallah, Bethlehem Zababdeh, Abood and Nablus.
Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The Jordanian government presented the draft elections law to Parliament. It is sure to garner much discussion before it is finally approved and published in the Official Gazette.

For starters, this would be one of the times an election law is actually debated in Parliament and not issued as a temporary law based on a Royal Decree.

The draft elections law comes after the Political Party Law and the law on the independent electoral commission were approved, building more confidence that the upcoming elections will be freer and fairer than previous elections. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The end of Hana Shalabi’s 44-day hunger strike hasproduced mixed results, and has pointed out another under-reported issue — the separation and difficulty of movement between Gaza and West Bank.

Shalabi, like Khader Adnan before her, have done a great service to fellow Palestinians by exposing the undemocratic nature of administrative detention. It might be some time before it can be seen whether their struggle will reduce or totally end this kind of detention. Continue Reading »

Thanks for your message. I would agree that the absence of comment supporting the boycott initiative was unfortunate. Clearly, that perspective should have been represented in the story. I queried the Metro desk and one of its editors offered a note of explanation and background, saying that the reporter emailed the boycott group asking for comment and that the group left a voicemail in response for him at about 10:30 p.m., acknowledging it was past his deadline. The Metro desk acknowledged the story should have said that the boycott supporters could not immediately be reached for comment. The desk also explained that the outreach to the boycott group was late because the story became “more expansive” late in day. The story was set in motion, the desk said, by the decision of candidate DeBlasio to speak out over the weekend, which prompted questions to Mayor Bloomberg at the Greek-American Parade and then (by The Times) at a Monday press event. After that, The Times decided to reach out to other politicians.

Again, thanks for your message.

Sincerely,

Art Brisbane
public editor

I had earlier sent this letter to the NY Times Public editor

dear Sir

The report (link below) is totally biased with lots of quotes from officials and citizens who are opposed to the boycott vote and none in favor. Also most quoted have no standing and therefore are not relevant but are outsiders trying to influence a vote by members of the coop

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/nyregion/boycott-plan-at-park-slope-food-co-op-draws-politicians-opposition.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120327

By Daoud Kuttab

The U.S. president and the executive branch have the most significant role in making foreign policy and are responsible for carrying it out.

Congress has the right to approve, recommend or reject foreign aid bills submitted to it, but it rarely blatantly opposes the executive branch’s foreign policy decisions.

Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, American policy appears to have been uniform by both parties. In the past two decades, the U.S. has been clearly in of the two-state solution as the bedrock of America’s foreign policy. Such a policy is translated in political and diplomatic terms, as well as in the details of its foreign aid. Continue Reading »