US President George Bush tickled the fancy of lovers of democracy the world over when he focused his inaugural address in Washington on the priority of fighting tyranny and standing up for the rights of people to liberty and freedom. While it is obvious that Bush will pursue this policy in regards to countries like North Korea and Iran, it is still an open question whether this will be the US policy in pro-US countries. In the world at large, and in the Arab world in specific, there are many who doubt the sincerity of Bush when it comes to his administration’s position regarding the human rights and other rights that people living under the rule of some of America’s allies. Continue Reading »

I participated in the Palestinian presidential elections very early on Jan. 9. I drove to the village of Anata just outside the municipal borders of Jerusalem, showed them my ID card, got my right hand thumb inked and was given a ballot which I used to cast my vote.

The ink, which some claimed could be easily removed, has stayed on my thumb for a week. Not that it bothered me. Instead, I used it as a badge of honour, showing it off to relatives and friends in Amman and even in Beirut. Continue Reading »

Victory for Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian presidential elections will pose a huge challenge to the Palestinian leadership.

By being voted chairman of the PLO executive committee hours after Yasser Arafat’s death, Abbas clinched the support of the organization that represents all Palestinians, including the diaspora. Continue Reading »

I left Amman very early to get to Ramallah for some work and a few interviews. My parents in law also wanted to go to Palestine and stay in Jericho. We left Amman at 7:30 and things went smoothly. My father in law, Odeh a Jordanian who lived many years in Jerusalem has a special love for Palestinians who he says are energetic and have an entrepreneurship spirit compared to many Jordanians who he says are lazy. Continue Reading »

The invitation I received from the US embassy was very simple. You are invited to coffee with Senator John Kerry. I looked at the invitation twice to be sure that the name was correct. I was invited to meet with the former presidential candidate.

I arrived at the well guarded US embassy in Amman and was surprised about how quickly I was allowed in as soon as they found out my name which they compared to a list of invitees. They ushered me in without much of search (I walked through a metal detector that seems not to have been on a very high sensitive gauging) and was not even asked to give up my cell phone. Continue Reading »