From Haaretz

Palestinian academic Daoud Kuttab warned Monday that while the digital era has seen greater media freedom in the Arab world, Hamas and Fatah are using technology in a negative way in their battle for supremacy in the Palestinian territories.

Kuttab, who was speaking at a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the Peres Center for Peace, cited Al-Qaida as an example of extremists taking advantage of the digital age to disseminate their message, but also Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, who he said are “using the Internet sometimes in a very nasty way.”

The Princeton professor did, however, laud the role the digital era has played in wresting control of the media from Arab governments and democratizing political commentary.
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Technological advances have brought a “real revolution in the way pictures, images and word are transmitted in the Arab world,” Kuttab told the audience at the debate in Tel Aviv.

He stressed that the media now has more credibility in the Arab world, and that “people have more choices in the media they watch.” He warned however, that the vacuum in media control left by governments has often been filled by “big business” such as the rich Saudi families, who are still “quite close to the government.”

Another panelist at the discussion, renowned American journalist Judith Miller, gave a more concrete example of how the digital era has built bridges between Israelis and Palestinians.

Miller gave the example of Israeli and Palestinian women journalists “who had common problems, who had the means to support each other.” These women, she said, had come together online to form a women’s media network.

She was referring to Wo.Me.N.”, whose formation was the result of a meeting held by the Peres Center and the International Peace and Cooperation Center for women journalists from both sides.

Following appeared in the Jordan Times

Daoud Kuttab

I must say I wasn’t surprised when I read the statements made by outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I had been informed by an Israeli friend of mine about Olmert’s dramatic conversion over the past few years, and especially last year.

The statements can be seen as a refreshing vindication for Abbas’ engagement instead of confrontation. But will they be translated into real change or will these be just more courageous statements made after a senior politician has lost power?
Continue Reading »

Daoud Kuttab
Posted on the Huffington Post October 6, 2008 | 06:23 PM (EST)

I was astonished as I read the details of Sarah and Todd Palin’s 2006 and 2007 tax returns. What triggered my attention was the line item on the percentage of the Evangelical couple’s contributions to charity.

Normally this line item can cover different kinds of charity. But without looking at the details, most if not all of this money is likely to have gone as part of the born again couple’s contribution to the church of their choice. And while some might contribute without claiming that contribution as a tax deductible gift, except for some small change thrown in during the Sunday offerings most if not all Christian contributors to churches do so using a check for the purpose of being able to claim that amount as a tax deductible gift. Churches by and large have and carefully protect their tax exempt status.

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Daoud Kuttab

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that the upcoming Palestinian national unity talks have a better chance at success than in previous times. I am not naive. 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 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. Continue Reading »

The Arabs and the Olympics

Daoud Kuttab

As we watched the Olympics, my nine-year-old daughter Dina kept on hounding me this week. Where are the Arabs, she kept on asking every time a medal was issued? Where are the Palestinians, where are the Jordanians she kept on asking every time a list of players was flashed on the TV screen.

Although Arab have participated in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and won bronze, silver and even gold, the level and size of the victories certainly don’t reflect the size and abilities of the Arab world. Why? Continue Reading »

Following was published in Bitterlemons

Bitterlemons,  01/09/08

A PALESTINIAN VIEW

Local priorities

by Daoud Kuttab

Whether those supporting the moderate leadership of palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas admit it or not, Hamas appears to have won. Now, before Islamists around the world start celebrating, it is important to note that the region, let alone the world, is far from embracing hard-line fundamentalists. Hamas, for the record, has made some important ideological and practical changes, the most important of which was the “tahdiya” (ceasefire-like quiet).

The signs of Hamas’ victory can be seen all over. From the success of the siege-breaking peace boats to the partial opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the serious talks Hamas leaders are holding with Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence chiefs.

Part of the reason for Hamas’ success is the fact that the region and the world have little choice but to accept the reality that emerged in February 2006 and that Hamas in June 2007, with its takeover of Gaza, served notice was not going away. Continue Reading »

Until my family and I landed in New Jersey in August 2007, I had lost
touch with what it meant to be a US citizen. I had arrived in Jersey
City in 1969 as a 14 year old boy with my family who immigrated from
the Palestinian areas. In 1980 after college and a few jobs, I
returned to east Jerusalem and worked in journalism since. Since then,
I have not spent any extended period in the US. My appointment as a
Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton brought my own family and
I back to New Jersey. Although many of my family members couldn’t
vote, we hungrily consumed the US presidential elections, religiously
following the primary season with all its ups and downs.
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The following appeared in the Jordan Times and the Jerusalem Post

Daoud Kuttab

Time has played a major role in most negotiations. Whether they are
labour or political negotiations, each side of a conflict waits
literally till the very last minute before revealing its true
position.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas have been quoted as saying that they wish they had just a
little more time to reach a solution to the Middle East conflict.
Continue Reading »

by Daoud Kuttab
Amman, Jordan– Ever since our family returned from the US, I have
been repeatedly asked to compare life in America to life in the
Middle East. For the 2007-’08 academic year I served as a Ferris
Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and a lecturer at the
Near East department.

With our older children working or at college, my wife, Salam, and
our nine year old, Dina, returned to Amman with mixed feelings. I was
happy to be back working as I commuted between my community radio
station in Amman and working as the executive producer in Ramallah of
a new season of shara’a simsim, the Palestinian version of Sesame
street.
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