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 »

If the past three months have proved one thing, it is that the present Israeli government is not ready or willing to take the minimum steps needed for peace. By rejecting international consensus on the need for a temporary freeze of the illegal settlement activities in occupied territories, the ultra-right-wing Israeli government has shown it is unwilling or unable to comply with the requirements needed for a successful peace process. The Americans will make yet another mistake if they fail to accept this fact and attempt to move the peace process forward as if nothing has happened. This would be nothing short of appeasement and a reward to intransigence and therefore will not bode well for the future of the talks. While Palestinians have very few viable alternatives at the present, they certainly can’t continue with this charade. Continue Reading »

The secret talks between US and Israeli officials, aimed at convincing the Israelis to change their position regarding the settlement freeze, started to smell more and more like a bribe, with some media reports calling it the $3 billion bribe.

The amount is in reference to the cost of the 20 advanced US fighter planes that the Obama administration is promising to give Israel in return for the Netanyahu government’s agreeing to a mere three-month freeze of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

If anyone thinks that this is a mere sweetener to support Israel’s security, one needs to ask why this issue did not come up until after the rightwing Israeli government declare its total rejection of the extension of the 10-month moratorium on settlement activities in the occupied territories, excepting Jerusalem and a few other places. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The secret talks between US and Israeli officials, aiming at convincing the Israelis to change their position regarding the settlement freeze, started to smell more and more like a bribe, with some media reports calling it the $3 billion bribe.

The amount is in reference to the cost of the 20 advanced US fighter planes that the Obama administration is promising to give Israel in return for the Netanyahu government’s agreeing to a mere three-month freeze of illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Continue Reading »

I have always tried my best to differentiate between Jews and Israelis. It bothers me when Palestinians use these two terms interchangeably.

Every time I cross the Jordan River, I overhear people talking on their cell phones, saying how they just got into the Jewish side, left the Jewish side, or were waiting to go through the Jewish side. Such comments can be heard as people approach or leave an Israeli checkpoint or have any other dealings with Israelis.

Religious preachers use the terms interchangeably when referring to negative actions of the Israelis or the lack of trust in Jewish negotiators, etc. Continue Reading »

Without any reason, the Israeli government has created a totally artificial problem for all future persons wishing to get citizenship: They will have to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Once again the Israelis are trying to push their internal problems and their hesitation to pay the needed price for peace onto others.

A cartoon in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth captured the strangeness of the latest Israeli obstacle to the peace process. The cartoon reprinted on a Palestinian web site shows secular Israeli intellectuals rejecting the idea of the Jewishness of Israel and at the same time depicts Orthodox Jewish leaders rejecting the same idea. In the cartoon, right-wing Israeli leader Avigdor Leiberman tries to convince a veiled Palestinian woman to make the pledge in return for giving her citizenship and she accepts. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 30^th, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

A US State Department spokesman told reporters this week that Washington was disappointed with Israel because of its failure to extend the settlement moratorium for as long as the peace talks were moving.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon used the same words to describe how the United Nations feels towards Israel. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, expressed the same sentiment vis-a-vis Israel’s decisions. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 23rd, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

Just when one thought that the direct peace talks might be able to produce a breakthrough, one got an awakening jolt.

Crossing the bridge over the Jordan River must be the world’s worst gift that keeps giving. This gift has been giving grief, anger, frustration and an overall realisation of what the occupation is all about. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 13th, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

The Associated Press takes pride in being the leading international news agency. The short headlines that appear on Yahoo home page are almost exclusively reserved to AP stories. But even the great AP makes mistakes. Sometimes its errors are not factual but a descriptive. The consequences are just as bad. Continue Reading »