May
26
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
The marathon of speeches that the US capital Washington witnessed last week cleared the view as to what is needed for Palestinians to reach their coveted independent state. Clearing the view, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that getting a state will be easy or attainable in the near future.
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May
21
2011
By Daoud Kuttab – Special to CNN
The appointment of George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East Peace for the newly-sworn-in U.S. president was a source of much hope in the Middle East.
Senior U.S. officials toured the region soon thereafter to make sure people understood the importance of the appointment and its timing.
Mitchell took the appointment seriously and did what no other envoy before him had done. He created a team of supporters and opened an office in the U.S. Continue Reading »
May
21
2011
When US President Barack Obama makes his scheduled speech today, he will have to deal with a totally different kind of Arab world than when he took office or when he made his famous Cairo speech.
Arab peoples led by youth, who constitute the vast majority of the population, have found their power and have been demanding a say in their future. No longer can the US or other Western countries simply depend on a few pro-Western dictators who obey the orders from Paris, London and Washington in return for those capitals ensuring that they stay in power. Continue Reading »
May
12
2011
Say what you may about the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but supporters and opponents agree on one thing: he is consistent.
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May
02
2011
If al-Qaeda followers turn to Yemen to pursue the work of Osama bin Laden’s network, they will be in for a surprise. The people of Yemen, like most of the Arab world, have long since divorced themselves from bin Laden and his ideology, as they are showing in theÂ
youth-led Arab uprising. For the past few months, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis — young and old, men and women — have been carrying out a nonviolent revolt with sit-ins, demonstrations and civil disobedience. Although the ruling party and its proxies have done everything they can to induce Yemenis to take up arms, the demonstrators have shown resilience, discipline and a determination to keep protests peaceful.
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