Apr
06
2007
the following appeared in the Jordan Times
Bearing responsibility for causing the refugee problem
Daoud Kuttab
The harsh statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he would not allow a single Palestinian refugee to return to Israel did not bother me much. Knowing what I know about the long-term desires of most Palestinians, the actual implementation of the right of return is not as high a Palestinian priority. However, Olmert’s other statement, that Israel bore no responsibility for causing the Palestinian refugee problem, clearly reflects the stance of an Israeli leader not interested in peace.
I strongly believe that the pre-state armed Zionist groups were responsible for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. My father George Kuttab and his brother Qostandi fled their neighbourhood of Musrara (in what is now west Jerusalem) after their sister Hoda’s husband, Elias, was killed in front of her and her children.
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Mar
26
2007
The following appeared in the Washington Post
Obstacle or Opportunity?
How the Palestinian Unity Government Offers a Path to Peace
By Daoud Kuttab
Monday, March 26, 2007; A15
When Henry Kissinger coined the term “constructive ambiguity” during his attempts to negotiate Arab-Israeli peace, he couldn’t have expected that one day Palestinians would use it in their own peace initiative. The ambiguity in the agenda of the new Palestinian “unity government” depends on whether one sees the cup as half full or half empty. If Israel and the United States want to move forward on the peace process, the cup is half full. But if there is no real will to pay the price for peace, the cup is half empty. Continue Reading »
Feb
16
2007
by Daoud Kuttab
The reconciliation between the leaders of the two major Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, which was negotiated in Saudi Arabia last week, is being hailed as a major political breakthrough. But the national unity government created as a result of this agreement faces many daunting challenges. Continue Reading »
Feb
12
2007
By Daoud Kuttab
If Israeli officials felt that the protest against work near Al-Aksa mosque was a local problem that would soon go away, they were not watching Lebanese television.
Some might think that the Arab world’s most popular TV program, Star Academy, is all about singing youth and half-dressed presenters. But on Friday, February 9, the students at Star Academy joined together in singing the song of Lebanese superstar Fairuz about Jerusalem. Continue Reading »
Feb
09
2007
Daoud Kuttab
Ever since the outbreak of the internal Palestinian fighting that has resulted in the death and injury of hundreds, two different points of view have surfaced. One simply put this shameful action at the front steps of the Palestinians. Those who think this way insist that there is no way one can blame the Israelis for this and that Palestinians are in need of inner reflection and stop blaming others for their fate.
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Dec
22
2006
By Daoud Kuttab
The biggest losers in the current political stalemate in Palestine have been the civil servants. Their total number is a bit over 150,000. The actual civil servants are 73,000 and those on the security payroll from the various apparatuses are said to be 85,000. Add to this number those who are retired and the families of the prisoners and martyrs, and you get possibly up to 175,000 Palestinians who have not been paid since February 2006, when the present Haniyeh government was elected.
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Dec
05
2006
by Daoud Kuttab
Three conditions must obtain for ceasefire agreements to work. They need to be mutual, supervised by a neutral party and supported by continuous political negotiations. Only the first condition seems to have been met this time around, and for the fire to cease we need to work on the remaining two conditions.
Although nothing has been signed by the conflicting parties, the condition of mutuality seems to have been fulfilled by an Israeli willingness to be involved in what amounts to an understanding rather than an agreement. As such, this ceasefire seems closer to the understandings reached in Lebanon or with the Syrians that have worked even though they were not put on paper by the parties to the conflict. It therefore bodes well that we seem to have overcome the initial hurdle that has been delaying movement on this front.
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Dec
01
2006
Daoud Kuttab
The repeated disappointments Palestinians have witnessed over the years have greatly lowered the expectations of most that real change is possible regarding the continuous illegal occupation of their country. Recalling the Sermon on the Mount, which took place on Palestinian lands, one activist created his version of one of the beatitudes that reads: “Blessed are those with low expectations for they shall not be disappointed.â€
Despite the proclamation of the US president and now even the prime minister of Israel that one day there will be a sovereign, viable Palestinian state on contiguous land, most Palestinians are now looking for partial relief only on the last portion of this international promise to Palestinians.
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Nov
26
2006
By Daoud Kuttab
A little over a year ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn, Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz, the PA’s Muhammad Dahlan and the EU reached an agreement to allow Palestinians free movement in and out of the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »
Oct
31
2006
Daoud Kuttab International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2006
Former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, finding himself in a bind during sensitive negotiations with the Palestinians in 1996, put forth a new condition: Israel – reputed to be “the only democracy in the Middle East” – would trade land for peace only when the Palestinians practiced real democracy. Continue Reading »