Palestine, media, Jordan, community radio, online journalism
By Daoud Kuttab BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The mayor of Bethlehem, Vera Baboun, was sure that the khamsin sand storm that hit the area on Friday was divine. Speaking to Al-Monitor from her Bethlehem home, the mayor said that the sudden weather change was a divine act, forcing the US president to travel by car into Bethlehem rather than by helicopter….
By Daoud Kuttab The hashtag that was trending on Thursday afternoon said it all. ObamainIsrael was one of the top hashtags on Twitter most of the afternoon of March 21, especially during and after the speech made by President Barack Obama to a group of young Israelis. There was no doubt about the goal…
By Daoud Kuttab He is probably not very well known outside the territories of the state of Palestine, but if you ask almost any Palestinian, they would most likely know who Bassam Zakarneh is. Technically, he is a member of the Revolutionary Council in Fatah. But ask any Fatah activist and they will say that he…
By Daoud Kuttab Less than a week before the important visit that the US president will make to Israel, Palestine and Jordan, there are some mysteries as to the Palestinian leg of his visit. While the most repeated itinerary lists Ramallah as a city where the US president will be spending a few hours,…
By Daoud Kuttab Electing the leader of the world’s Catholic faithful is always an unpredictable affair. The choice of Argentina’s cardinal, now Pope Francis, has lived up to the mystery. What concerns people the most is the political direction that the leader of the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics will take on issues such…
By Daoud Kuttab One thing is clear before, during and after the visit of President Barack Obama to the region: When it comes to the issue of Jewish settlements in Palestine, it is all a game. A few weeks before the visit of the US president, Israelis were rushing to build as many housing units…
By Daoud Kuttab Khalil Abu Arafeh’s cartoon, which ran in the Sunday, March 3 edition of the leading Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, left no doubt as to the reason behind the resignation of Nabil Qassis, the Palestinian minister of finance. Abu Arafeh showed an empty safe, with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s hands folded next to…
By Daoud Kuttab The Feb. 20 event held at the PLO offices in Ramallah was supposed to produce a warming of relations between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the various PLO groups led by Fatah. At the podium was Dr. Abdel Aziz Dweik, the former head of the Palestine Legislative Council, who was…
By Daoud Kuttab One of the biggest questions being raised these days is whether the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership favors the escalation of Palestinian protests. For the past few weeks, Palestinian anger has been publicly displayed in various forms, most prominently in street protests that have raised speculation that a third intifada could be around the corner….
By Daoud Kuttab One of the most basic principles of journalism is the need for members of the press to have an opportunity to witness a particular event or have a chance to talk to their subjects. This principle applies to both Palestinian and Israeli journalists alike. But the reality in occupied Palestine is…