Daoud Kuttab

AMMAN – The main conclusion emerging from the Obama-Abbas meeting last week is that the United States continues to be dead serious about its demand that Israel immediately freeze all settlement activities. Considering all the hot button topics, some might argue that issues of withdrawal, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian right of return, ought to be much more important. So why has the demand to freeze settlement activity become the defining issue?
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An Arab proverb says that a madman throws a stone in a drinking well and 100 wise men are needed to get the stone out. This proverb applies to the gigantic effort that US President Barack Obama will have to exert as he attempts to clean up the mess his predecessor created in the Arab and Muslim worlds. As in the proverb, the problem of regaining trust requires 100 times the effort made to lose it. Trust obviously cannot be built just with words, even though words, and the right words, have a lot of meaning.
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Muslims and Arabs would like to hear a lot from President Obama, starting with Palestine, Iraq and the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf. While foreign policy is crucial, a sincere show of respect and attempt to rebuild trust are more important.

Palestine has become the litmus test for U.S. foreign policy because it has exposed U.S. hypocrisy. Examples of the double standard include U.S. bias toward Israel while it claims to be an honest broker, its push for “democracy” while rejecting the results of Palestinian elections, and its silence on Israeli nuclear weapons while blasting Iranian nuclear efforts.

There are huge expectations for Obama. Arabs and Muslims appreciate and respect American values of democracy and human rights, but the disreputable actions of U.S. soldiers, diplomats and civil servants have led many to question the U.S. commitment to its stated values. Typical references to the Judeo-Christian heritage need to be replaced by an approach appealing to universal values based on human rights, self-determination, and opposition to occupation and dictatorships. Obama needs to find a way to apologize for the past and to convince people that he is planning to change course. No one expects the U.S. president to totally change U.S. policy, but people will welcome efforts to turn a new page based on fairness and trust.

Obama could weaken the accusations of U.S. double standards and help dispel the false connection between Islam and terrorism — as well as demonstrating a reason to trust an American president — by establishing low-level negotiations with the elected members of the Palestinian legislature who ran on the reform-and-change bloc headed by Ismail Haniyeh. Talking to the political wing of Hamas is no different than talking to the leaders of Iran, which Obama promised to do while campaigning.

The demand by the Obama administration for the Israelis to fully and completely freeze all settlement activities has become a point of contention between the US and Israel for a number of reasons.

Jewish settlements built on lands occupied by Israel in 1967 is considered by the international community to be totally illegal and in clear violation of the fourth Geneva convention which is aimed at regulating prolonged occupations. The International Court of Justice at the Hague ruled in July 9th 2004 at the Hague as much when considering an appeal against Israel for building a wall inside Palestinian territories. Successive US administrations have also repeated rejected settlement activities but have wavered from calling it “illegal,” to calling it an “obstacle to peace.” Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The long-awaited Obama-Netanyahu meeting has finally taken place. If this were a boxing match, one would probably have to call the result of the latest round at the White House a tie.

A look at the post-summit transcripts shows that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stuck to his hardline position, refusing to pronounce the words two-state solution, attempting to shift emphasis on Iran and reiterating the latest Israeli demand of Palestinians, namely to accept Israel as a state for the Jewish people. (Ironically Jews themselves don’t agree on who is a Jew, and Israel would clearly never accept to recognise Palestine as a Muslim country).
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May. 12, 2009
Daoud Kuttab , THE JERUSALEM POST

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Jordan and Palestine is a perfect opportunity to review and stress the role of Christian Arabs in the peace process and their strong support for peace with justice.

To begin with, it is important for all to know that Arabs have been in Palestine and Jordan before the arrival of Islam and Christianity. References to the word “Arab” and its derivatives are mentioned hundreds of times in the Old and New Testaments. The biblical figure of Job is said to be Arab; Arabs were among the many attending the sermon on the Day of Pentecost by St. Peter, and were among the 3,000 who then became Christians. Acts II refers to Arabs having heard the sermon in their own tongue.
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by Daoud Kuttab
As the summit between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether or not the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state solution. This is the wrong approach. Israelis should not determine the status of the Palestinian entity, nor should Palestinians have a say in what Israelis call their own state.
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Following appeared in the Jordan Times

The right to free movement
By Daoud Kuttab

In observing decades-old conflicts, political spin takes overrides reality. Facts are often replaced by claims and counterclaims leaving a neutral observer confused as to who is wrong and who is right. Sometimes, a new story is much more revealing than the tonnes of arguments and counterarguments.

This was the case when news of the failure of the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, which would have released soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians, many held without trial or charge.
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A PALESTINIAN VIEW
Too good to last

by Daoud Kuttab

It was quite astonishing to hear world leaders so gushing in their praise for Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The western-trained former World Bank official was variously described as “professional”, “transparent” and “effective”. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton managed to combine all these comments in her concluding press conference at the Sharm al-Sheikh donors’ conference, which raised more money than anticipated. “The presentation from Prime Minister Fayyad was as good as I’ve seen from anybody. I mean, that’s a presentation that should make every person proud, because it was so professional, so well thought out and it inspired confidence.”
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This appeared in the Huffington Post on January 7,2009
Arab Journalists and the war on Gaza

by Daoud Kuttab

This was a hard week for me being asked on more than one occasion to choose between being a professional journalist and being a patriotic Palestinian.

As a bilingual observer one is completely frustrated when following what is happening in our region on Arab and international television channels. Using sleep-deprived reports, Arab satellite stations have been continuously filling the airwaves with heart wrenching stories of Palestinians being violently assaulted with a seemingly endless and indiscriminate Israeli attacks.
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