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
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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The following appeared in the Jordan Times and Huffington Post
It’s the occupation Stupid
by Daoud Kuttab

Following the words and efforts of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Sharm el Sheikh, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah one gets the feeling that she was on a hard-sell campaign trying to convince the majority of Israelis to accept the concept of the two-state solution. For now, Palestinians are more interested in the end of the decades-old occupation of their lands.
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By Daoud Kuttab

The United States Middle East policy appears to be slowly but gradually changing. US officials are beginning a charm offensive following a successful four day tour in the region for the new secretary of state.

In a briefing by Jeffery Feltman the newly appointed Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East, it was clear that Washington’s tone has changed. Feltman listed all the public steps taken by President Obama since his first days in office. He called Arab leaders in the region (including King Abdullah of Jordan and President Abbas of Palestine) even before calling some of America’s European’s allies. On his first visit outside the White House he visited the state department and announced the appointment of George Mitchell as his special envoy to the region. His first interview was with an the Arab satellite station, Al Arrabiya.

Following the briefing with the US diplomat, Jordanian columnist Jamil Nimri was quick to reflect “there is a new tone coming out of Washington. The new tone coming out of Washington was more than symbolism. The visiting US official repeatedly state that President Obama has made it clear to all that he is “result oriented.” Obama has publicly said that people in the Arab and Islamic world should evaluate him on his deeds and not just his words. Feltman repeated that the new administration is totally and completely focused on the two state solution.
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For the first time since the Hamas takeover in June 2007, Palestinian national unity talks have a better chance of success than in previous times, and the Gaza situation is probably the reason.

This optimistic prediction can turn out terribly wrong, but I think the time is now ripe: the parties are much more realistic in their expectations and the public disgust with both sides after Gaza might produce the needed tipping point in favour of genuine reconciliation. Both negative and positive factors appear to favour such national unity among Palestinians today.
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by Daoud Kuttab
The biggest national concern of Palestinians today is to make sure that the Israeli attempts to split Gaza from the West Bank doesn’t become permanent. Egypt and the Palestinian Authority have been made to look bad in the eyes of the Arab world because of their refusal to fall for the trap to make Egyptians responsible for Gaza and possibly Jordan to take care of the West Bank thus destroying the possibility of an independent Palestinian states with contiguity.

For years now the Israeli government has been carefully and methodically trying to permanently cut of the future Palestinian state’s two geographical parts. Attempts by the former US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to regulate the movement of people and good between Gaza and the West Bank failed to materialize.
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If there is one thing that Israelis and Palestinians agree to these days, it is on the need to keep civilians out of the decades-old conflict. Unfortunately, neither Hamas nor Israel has done that.

Israel has clearly and unapologetically punished Palestinian civilians, especially those in Gaza, killing, maiming and holding them hostage. Hamas did not care whether the rockets it launched into Israeli settlements would hit or traumatise Israeli civilians. Both are wrong and both must stop.
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