By Daoud Kuttab

It is not clear whether Salam Fayyad uttered these exact terms, but what the New York Times’ Roger Cohen quoted the outgoing Palestinian prime minister as having said resonated with many Palestinians. Frustrated as to the lack of progress after 46 years of occupation, Palestinians are ready to find any scapegoat to pour all their frustrations on. The statement that the Palestinian leadership lacks a coherent strategy and that many decisions are taken without study and thought sounds about right to many people. But is it that simple?

There is definitely much to be said about the importance of tactics in negotiations and the need to maximize one’s strengths while trying to capitulate on the weakness of one’s opponent. But is the delay of a breakthrough in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict only the result of bad tactics and the absence of a strategy among Palestinians? Many would agree wholeheartedly. But the evidence is not that persuasive. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Sometimes the best way to gauge reactions to a particular action is to look away from it. The reactions of the Jordanian parliament and government on Wednesday, May 8, to Israel’s decisions regarding Al-Aqsa mosque is a prime example.

Jordan, one of two Arab countries that has signed a peace agreement with Israel, decided to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv and summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a strong complaint about the events in Jerusalem. The Jordanian parliament, however, was much more radical, with MPs voting unanimously to demand that the government expel the Israeli ambassador.

While the decision of the parliament is not binding on the executive branch, it would be a mistake to dismiss the decision. Such an action reflects an increasingly angry mood in the Arab world in reaction to Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Europe, Israel’s No. 1 trading partner, is once again trying to rethink its Israel policies in light of the latter’s failure to facilitate the two-state solution. The European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) has issued a powerful document aimed at guiding member states in dealing with Israel, Palestinians and Arabs.

Entitled “Europe and the Vanishing Two-State Solution,” the 65-page report written by Nick Witney deals with what Europeans think about the two-state solution, the need for and the constraints on European action, concluding with specific actions the EU can take. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The statement made by the Qatari prime and foreign minister in Washington in favor of adding a clause to the Arab Peace Initiative allowing for “land swaps”  caught many off guard and drew a largely negative reaction in Palestinian and Arab circles.

On the surface, the statement by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani of Qatar in the presence of US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Arab League delegation (including the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki) didn’t seem like a problem. Hamad said: “The Arab League delegation affirmed that agreement should be based on the two-state solution on the basis of the 4th of June 1967 line, with the possible of comparable and mutual agreed minor swap of the land.”

Since the 2000 Camp David talks, the Palestinian leadership has accepted that while the two-state solution should be based on the pre-June 5, 1967, borders, the concept of land swaps was possible. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

After a seven-year legal battle, the Silesian nuns convent located in the Palestinian town of Beit Jala lost an appeal on April 24 against the building of the Israeli wall on its land. The latest route of the wall will place the convent on the Palestinian side of the wall, and its companion Cremisan Catholic monastery on the Israeli side. It will also take up most of the Church’s lands as well as that of 58 families, most of them Palestinian Christians.

According to a news release issued by the human rights organization that joined the lawsuit, the Israelis will place an agricultural gate that will be open at certain times of the year to allow the Church to tend its land. For decades, the Cremisan monastery has produced wine [from grapes] grown in the Cremisan Valley. Reports from Palestinian officials note that the latest decision will deny Palestinians the only remaining green area. Bethlehem city officials say that as a result of the 47-year- old occupation of Palestinian lands, the city has been dramatically shrunk from its original size. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

When Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad broke his silence following the acceptance by President Mahmoud Abbas of his resignation, the topic he chose to discuss was not overtly political. Using his Facebook page, Salam Fayyad wrote the following words: “I call on all Palestinians to support the Palestinian artistMohammed Assaf, who is deservedly representing Palestine in the second season of ‘Arab Idol.’”

Support of an artist by a politician is not usually the best path to success, but in the Palestinian case, the words from Fayyad were welcomed by Assaf, who is being supported by Palestinians and Arabs in general throughout the made-for-TV competition.

Twenty-three-year-old Assaf was born in Libya in 1989 and moved back to Gaza in 1994, and is now studying public relations at Gaza’s Palestine University. His voice is said to be very close to the late Egyptian sensation Abdel Halim Hafez, an issue that has brought him fame and some controversy. Using parts of the late Egyptian’s name, some have called Assad Hilm Falastine (Palestine’s Dream). Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The state of Israel prides itself on being a democratic state in which all its citizens are treated equally under the law. Yet a closer examination shows the strange and convoluted ways in which laws are used to defend some clearly racist practices.

A case in point is the practice of denying family-reunification permission to Israelis married to Palestinians. International humanitarian law and the basic law in Israel make it difficult for the Interior Ministry to bar an Israeli from demanding the right to live with his or her spouse. Around the world, laws and regulations protect the sanctity of the family and guarantee its members basic rights, including the right to live together and the granting of necessary permits to be able to do that. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The image will remain engraved in many people’s memory about the first intifada. A Palestinian woman dressed in a skirt and blouse holds here high heel shoes in one hand and throws a stone on members of the occupying Israeli forces with the other. Clearly the image is not so much about violence as it is about defiance and the integral role of women in the Palestinian uprising.

Match that image with this week’s decision by the Islamic-led powers in Gaza to ban a marathon in the Strip because women had decided to participate in it or the decision last month to apply strict Islamic dress code on female university students. This comparison, while focusing on external descriptions, is perhaps the most telling image of the retraction, rather than the progression, of Palestinian women in the last four decades.

Other more substantive comparisons of laws, regulations and social attitudes tend to confirm this trend, although there are exceptions. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in the Jordan Times.

By Daoud Kuttab

This week, hundreds of Palestinians attempting to return home using the only crossing point allowed to them, the King Hussein Bridge, found themselves stuck for hours and hours at the bridge.

It appears that Israeli bridge officials were not ready to accept the Palestinians, which included many umra pilgrims.

On Sunday and Monday the bridge was closed at noon, causing travellers who made it before closure nearly 10 hours of delay, while others arriving after that time were asked to come back the following day. Some, choosing to pay as much as $108 per person to cross the bridge using the VIP service, had to wait for at least four hours.

This is not the first time that Palestinians suffer from long delays, which is routine in summer months. Ever since October 2000, the Israelis got rid of the Palestinian police that was stationed at the bridge, reduced bridge hours from the 24 to an 8am-10pm weekday schedule and a much more reduced schedule on Fridays, Saturdays and on Jewish holidays. The Israeli airport and other crossing points are open around the clock, even during Jewish holidays. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Following appeared in the Jordan Times and Huffington Post

also check out these other stories

http://forward.com/articles/175016/salam-fayyad-doomed-by-israel-and-palestinian-enem/?p=all

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/salam-fayyad-resignation-abbas-replacement.html

Israel may say that it wants peace, but the reality has become clear. Once U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry left the region, Israel felt protected by the charm handed to it for free by Obama and subsequently ignored his advice on how to work on ending the occupation.

If you are generous to a decent person, you own him, and if you are kind to a nasty person, he rebels, goes a famous Arab saying.

What we are witnessing now is Israel’s rebellion against its generous benefactor: the U.S.

Here are a few examples. Before Obama came to Israel, there was discussion about some confidence-building measures. Palestinians were asked to refrain from taking Israel to the International Court of Justice while Israel was asked to freeze settlement activities in order to facilitate a return to peace talks. Continue Reading »