Nov
07
2005
By: Daoud Kuttab*
The biggest question in the upcoming elections for the Palestinian legislature is not how many seats Hamas will win. Nor are people questioning how the mixed elections (district and national) will play out. The real question on most Palestinian’s lips these days is who will represent the leading Palestinian party (movement). Continue Reading »
Oct
23
2005
By Daoud Kuttab
The mood is becoming upbeat in Palestine these days. Election fever is building up as December and January are expecting important polls. Major Palestinian cities, like Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron,Gaza , Jenin, Rafah, are due to elect mayors and city councils in December. The following month, the entire Palestinian public is due to elect a new legislative council. The city elections will be the first since 1976, legislative elections are the first since 1995. All city mayors in office today are appointed rather than elected. Legislators have been in office for ten years. Continue Reading »
Oct
07
2005
by Daoud Kuttab
Some of the speakers and participants said a conference called for by the Palestinian Authority to discuss how to have an effective public relations campaign was tens of years overdue.
Titled “Talking to the worldâ€, the invitation was issued by Information Minister Nabil Shaath and attended by the top public and private brass of the Palestinians, including President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian journalists and media activists. Held in Ramallah, the two-day conference reviewed the political scene in America, Europe and Israel. Continue Reading »
Sep
23
2005
By Daoud Kuttab
As was predicted, the Israeli government is moving quickly to absolve itself of any and all responsibility for the people of the Gaza Strip. The latest sign of this has been the order signed by the Minister of Interior Ophir Pines declaring Gaza foreign territories and, as a consequence, the four Israeli checkpoints with Gaza international borders. Continue Reading »
Sep
10
2005
By Daoud Kuttab
For 37 years, Israel has consistently rejected Palestinians’ and the world view that the status of the areas its military took in 1967 was occupied. When Israel was not using the biblical terms of Judea and Samaria (to refer to the West Bank) they used the terms “administered territories†or “disputed territoriesâ€. That is until now. Continue Reading »
Aug
26
2005
By Daoud Kuttab
Ramallah – In the mid-80s Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli researcher on the West Bank and Gaza, came up with the term irreversibility when referring to the difficulty that will be met to reverse the trend of Jewish settlement activities in the Palestinian territories. His concept, which was well intended and has a lot of merit, has been dealt a blow by the Israeli government and army. Continue Reading »
Aug
21
2005
In the mid-80s Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli researcher on the West Bank and Gaza, came up with the term irreversibility when referring to the difficulty that will be met to reverse the trend of Jewish settlement activities in the Palestinian territories. His concept, which was well intended and has a lot of merit, has been dealt a blow by the Israeli government and army. Continue Reading »
Aug
21
2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The unilateral Israeli decision to withdraw troops and evacuate settlers from the Gaza Strip has thrown a monkey wrench in the works for all parties. Palestinians and other international players have been especially confused as to how to proceed. The answer is: through negotiations — not one-sided actions. Continue Reading »
Aug
18
2005
The withdrawal of Israeli troops and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza, after 38 years of occupation, is the most recent proof of the limits of military power, even when that power is overwhelming. Now is the time to take stock of the lessons learned from the years of occupation and resistance in order to understand what Israelis and Palestinians should do next. Continue Reading »
Aug
18
2005
Thirty-eight years after Israeli troops rumbled into the Gaza Strip, Sinai, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, real change on the ground is taking place. Israel is adding the Gaza Strip to Sinai (as well as south Lebanon) on the list of occupied areas that it has decided to abandon. But unlike the Sinai withdrawal, which was completed as part of a peace agreement with Egypt, or the one from south Lebanon, quitting Gaza is different. Much as Palestinian militants would like to attribute Israel’s withdrawal to their acts of resistance, most Palestinians concede that local, regional and international issues, as well as military and political considerations, contributed to the Israeli decision. Continue Reading »