Feb
11
2011
Published in the Jerusalem Post February 11, 2011
By DAOUD KUTTAB
Several days before Tuesday January 18, someone in the IDF made a decision that affected thousands of people, Israelis, Palestinians and others. Hundreds of decisions like this are made on a daily basis in the IDF’s Tel Aviv headquarters. That day, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev was visiting Jericho, and so the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge was to close from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Palestinian Authority and the Jordanian government were not consulted and were apparently in the dark about it until the last minute. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and those outside wishing to travel, as well as foreigners planning to cross in either direction, found out only when attempting to access the bridge.
Feb
10
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
While it is not clear when and how the popular revolt in Egypt will end, it is clear that the winners and losers, following the present uprising, throughout the Arab world can be identified.
It might be a cliché to state that tyrants are the biggest losers and peoples are the winners, but it does reflect what is the case in much of the Arab world.
Rulers who were able to govern with little resistance for years are suddenly discovering that the seats they have been clinging to are becoming unbearably hot.
Even without being provoked by their own people, some Arab rulers are already announcing that they don’t intend to run for office again. Heads of state who have been harbouring ideas of bequeathing their power to their children are declaring such ideas void even though their children are still running the army or such important senior posts. Continue Reading »
Feb
10
2011
Why does the US boycott one of its own citizens who happens to be the Christian mayor of Bethlehem? This has been the case regarding Victor Batarseh, the elected mayor of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem.<img alt=”2011-02-08-kuttab.jpg” src=”http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-02-08-kuttab.jpg” width=”450″ height=”605″ />
Batarseh, a Roman Catholic physician and a U.S. citizen, ran in the municipal elections in 2005 on an independent list of three Christians and seven Muslims. While the seven Muslims on his list lost, he and two other candidates won membership in the council. Later he was chosen by the elected city counselors to be the mayor of the city, Batarseh won the mayorship in part by pro-Hamas candidates. The city’s tradition has always been that the mayor of the birthplace of Christ should be a local Christian. Continue Reading »
Feb
02
2011
To understand what is happening in the Arab world today one needs to know only two things: that the majority of Arabs are young and for the most part connected to the net, and that despite the fear mongerers in the West, these connected Arab youths are secular although not totally opposed to the need for all individuals and groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to be represented in any future power-sharing government.
Continue Reading »
Jan
28
2011
Palestinian cartoonist Khalil Abu Arafeh is no Fatah loyalist. In his early years he supported the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Abu Arafeh’s brother Khaled was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council on the pro Hamas Reform and Change List. Abu Arafeh’s political cartoons in the largest daily <em>Al Quds</em> are often seen as a reflection of the general mood of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Abu Arafeh captured much of the Palestinian pulse on Monday with his cartoon on the latest controversy involving the leaked Palestinian negotiating papers. <a href=”http://web.alquds.com/docs/pdf-docs/2011/1/25/page18.pdf” target=”_hplink”>He depicts an older Palestinian man </a>holding the hand of a young boy; they are caught in some attacks on Palestinians. On the left side, Israeli bulldozers knock down houses, under the caption “Israeli mubasher”. On the right side, arrows are puncturing the old man’s back; the caption reads “Jazeera mubasher”. Mubasher means direct, and also applies to the television term for live broadcast.
Jan
26
2011
We must speak out
By Daoud Kuttab, International Herald Tribune
For years, the Palestinian struggle for freedom and liberation from a foreign military occupation was criticized as two-faced. The late Yasser Arafat was dubbed a terrorist in sheep’s clothing; his attempts to simultaneously use military and political means to accomplish Palestinian goals were rejected by the Western world.
Continue Reading »
Jan
13
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
The choices facing Palestinian leaders as they try to navigate their responsibilities while the 44-year-long Israeli occupation continues are difficult.
Some Palestinian activists of the Islamic Hamas movement were detained by the Abbas-Fayyad government in a general crackdown against armed resistance movements that sees attempts by the Palestinian Authority to apply the rule of law in the occupied territories as part of the Palestinian leadership’s commitment to the international community. Of course, in return for this, the Israelis were obliged (according to the roadmap) to freeze all settlement activities as the two parties prepare for peace talks that are aimed at ending the occupation and creating an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state. Continue Reading »
Dec
30
2010
After the strong beginnings of 2009, during the Obama administration’s first days in office, 2010 began on a cautious note on the Palestinian cause.
There were some promising signs: the Israeli government partially froze its settlement activities; indirect talks commenced and there was hope that in one crucial area all seemed all in agreement, the need to delineate the borders of the future Palestinian state. Such agreement would have allowed negotiators to be relieved of the weight of settlement activities.
After seeing settlers nearly triple in the 18 years since the beginning of the Oslo process, the Palestinians were no longer willing to belittle the need for the suspension of settlement activities. Israelis, the theory went, also needed the border issue settled so as not to have to keep worrying about the pressure of continuously being asked to suspend settlements. Continue Reading »
Dec
30
2010
At the beginning of the latest US-Israel crisis over the issue of the settlement freeze, the Americans considered both carrot and stick to “encourage” the Israelis to do the right thing, in accordance with international law.
Among the incentives that special adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Dennis Ross and company convinced the White House to offer the Israelis was a set of the latest US fighter planes, to the tune of $3 billion, a commitment from Washington to veto any UN Security Council resolution calling for the recognition of Palestine and incorporating the Israeli demands regarding security presence in the Jordan Valley. Continue Reading »
Dec
23
2010
Whatever else one can say about the speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, he is clearly a quick learner.
The 16th Parliament was off to a rocky start a few weeks ago. While the choice of Faisal Fayez was sealed when all competitors withdrew their candidacy for the top spot, all other positions were hotly fought for. Quickly assembled blocs disintegrated as fast, and even members of the same bloc traded verbal insults; some MPs even slipped into the seats of Cabinet ministers once members of the executive branch left the Parliament building.
Fayez quickly laid down the law and has taken control of Parliament since. When the idea of reaching a consensus for the different committees proved problematic, he went back to the book and insisted that elections for every committee be carried out according to Parliament’s by-laws. Continue Reading »