By Daoud Kuttab

It seems like an old, scratchy record: Everyone seems to know what to do and what to say. It first started with disinformation followed by governmental maneuvering and ended with a government decision. Now all that everyone is waiting for is the expiration of the mandatory 48 hours.

The issue is the second group of Palestinian prisoners set to be released under an agreement reached on the eve of the Palestinian-Israeli talks. Palestinians agreed to suspend all attempts to join international organizations as a state in return for Israel releasing 104 prisoners held before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Just as in the previous round, the trouble began with a barrage of articles, protests and statements opposing the release of what Israeli media call “Palestinian terrorists.” The attacks were then followed by an attempt to suggest further Jewish settlement as a quid pro quo for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Furthermore, some Israeli radicals also suggested that released prisoners be deported rather than be allowed to go to their homes.

Palestinian leaders, who are aware that radical statements can quickly translate into policy, are trying to stop the problem in its infancy before some mainstream officials feel obliged by public pressure to respond. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The voter turnout rates tell the story. Israel held elections on Oct. 22 for all its cities and communities as well as for what Israel calls “united Jerusalem.” While the overall national voter turnout rate was 51%, the variation between Arab towns in Israel and Jerusalem were the largest. The largest Palestinian city in Israel, Nazareth, witnessed one of the highest percentages of participation, while east Jerusalem saw a near-total boycott.

Incumbent Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jariysi was re-elected with the thinnest of margins (a 500-vote difference), defeating his toughest challenger, Ali Salem. A third contender for the office of mayor, left-wing Knesset member Hanin Zoubi, was also unsuccessful. Participation was very high in Nazareth, topping 73% of qualified voters in the town where Jesus grew up.

Palestinians living in Israel have different views in their attitudes toward municipal elections versus Knesset parliamentary elections. Whereas some political purists refuse to participate in national elections because of their ideological opposition to Israel and its policies, almost all agree to participate in municipal elections because it is mostly local and service-oriented rather than political. Family and tribal issues and loyalties in addition to service-related topics often dominate local elections. Municipal elections in Israel often see a much higher voter turnout rate among Arab voters than Jewish Israelis. In the current elections, the average national participation rate was 51%, but the participation in Arab towns,  according to the arabs48 website, averaged 75%. In Nazareth, participation was 73%, in Shafamer 72%, in Sakhnin 87%, in Kufr Kanaa 83%, in Majdel Krum 82% and in Arabet al-Batouf 84%. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

It has been said that history is written by the victors. If that is the case, then the reporters guide to language use in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soon to be released might reflect that there are no winners in this decades-old struggle. IPI will issue a press release on the booklet tomorrow, Oct. 23.

The reporters guide, Use with Care: A Reporter’s Glossary of Loaded Language in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, was produced by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) and is the result of years of back-and-forth drafting by six unnamed Palestinian and Israeli journalists. The guidebook should be found in every newsroom in the world that deals with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Some 150 terms are represented in the guide. Each term is listed in English, Arabic and Hebrew, along with a phonetic transcription of both the Hebrew and Arabic words in Latin characters. Alongside every term are two or three paragraphs explaning the meaning of the term, how it is used and why one side or the other might find it problematic. Finally, another column suggests alternative terms. Continue Reading »

This appeared in today’s Jordan Times.

Palestinians again boycott Jerusalem municipal polls

By Daoud Kuttab | Oct 23, 2013

Once again Palestinians living in Jerusalem have made a powerful political statement about the future of the holy city by staying away from the municipal polls. Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that Palestinians avoided the elections of what Israelis call the united city of Jerusalem. “Less than 1 per cent of Palestinians in East Jerusalem voted in the Jerusalem municipal elections,” the daily said on its Ynet website.

The absence of participation in neighborhoods such as Sur Baher, Beit Hanina, Shufat, Issawia Abu Tur as well as the old city of Jerusalem is not new. Since the 1967 occupation of the city and its unilateral annexation, Palestinians have publicly opposed participation in the municipal elections, which combined West Jerusalem to that of East Jerusalem. Municipal elections in Israel include voting for both mayor and city council. Running for mayor were three Israeli right-wing, ultra-right-wing and religious candidates. City council elections include 31 seats and members are not elected by neighborhoods or location but based on political party slates. Usually one or two council members are elected from the left-wing Meretz Party, while the majority council is divided between Likud, Labor and religious parties. Usually no Arab parties or candidates run for the Jerusalem municipal elections. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The Mediterranean island of Malta has a colorful history in the region. Malta has been described as an open-air museum. Tourists visiting the island can retrace the footsteps of St. Paul or see where the Knights of St. John fought their most famous battles.

Many crusade missions to Palestine began on this island, and it has become famous for its Knights of Malta — the order calls itself the “Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem.” Today’s Jerusalem still has many traces of the Knights of Malta.

It was not surprising, then, to see Hanan Ashrawi visiting the island after the tragedy of the migrant boat that capsized near the island on Oct. 16, after being caught in high waves, and discovered by the US Navy. At least 128 migrants, including many Palestinians, were among those rescued. Malta’s prime minister stated that the Mediterranean Sea is quickly becoming a cemetery of migrants.

The choice of Ashrawi was no coincidence. Ashrawi, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee member, was chosen by the Palestinian leadership to visit Malta because of her connection to Jerusalem and her Christian faith. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The four-minute video and 13 photos posted on the website of the Palestine News Network tells the story vividly. Members of various diplomatic missions to Palestine joined Palestinians in picking olives.

The exercise was no simple picnic or an innocent act of voluntary work. It was another visible manifestation of the major problem of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the struggle for land.

Palestinian land outside built-up areas is most frequently planted with the evergreen olive tree. The trees require little upkeep during the year, and its fruits yield the popular olive oil, a major staple in Palestinian homes.

Olive trees, which have resembled a sign of peace since doves brought them back to Noah’s Ark, are in the forefront of the struggle between the Israeli occupiers and settlers on the one hand and the indigenous Palestinian population on the other. Nothing exhibits the Palestinian connection to the land more than these fruit-bearing trees. Olive trees are often inaccessible as a result of the Israeli wall built deep inside Palestinian territories or are unavailable to Palestinians as a result of barbed wire placed by Israeli troops under the pretext of an exaggerated security policy. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Municipal elections in most countries are not a big deal. But the Jerusalem municipal elections are a big deal for Palestinians, who have boycotted every election held in the city since 1967. Ever since the Israelis occupied east Jerusalem and unilaterally declared that the city’s two sides are now a “united city,” Palestinians have refused to field candidates or vote for the city council and mayor. This has resulted in Jewish Israelis continuously gaining every seat on the council of a city with between 250,000 to 350,000, depending on whether Palestinian Jerusalemites on the other side of the wall are included in the count.

On Oct. 8, the Arab affairs department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a statement calling on east Jerusalem residents not to vote in the elections scheduled for Oct. 22. The PLO said the municipality supports settlements in east Jerusalem and is turning it into a Jewish city, “which is a national and political issue and not an issue of providing services.”

“Participating in these elections will be considered normalization with the Israeli occupation authority, which means legitimizing the annexation of Jerusalem,” read the statement.

The call on Palestinians not to participate will certainly be heeded. In no previous elections have Palestinians in Jerusalem participated with numbers more than single digits. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

For nearly two years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior leaders have hammered home a single point: “Why are Palestinians refusing to negotiate with us?” Netanyahu repeatedly said that he would go anywhere — including Ramallah — to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and initiate peace talks. At one time, he suggested setting up a tent somewhere between Jerusalem and Ramallah, so that the two parties could meet and theoretically solve the decadeslong conflict.

Today, a good two months into the US-sponsored nine-month secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the only voice calling for public meetings is that of the Palestinian leader. Netanyahu, who waited 27 minutes and 48 seconds into his UN General Assembly speech to mention the Palestinians, appears to have all but forgotten his public demands to meet face to face with Abbas.

This week, Abbas appears to have pleasantly surprised Israeli Knesset members, whom he hosted at the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian government. The New York Times reported that Abbas did not use the word “occupation” in his public address to the Israeli delegation and barely mentioned the hot topic of Jewish settlements. Knesset member Hilik Bar, head of a 40-member left-wing caucus in the 120-member legislature, praised Abbas and his description of where the talks are heading. “I didn’t think it was going in a good direction. To hear that from Abbas, it is meaningful.” Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

This week, a Jordanian band went on a tour that includes the Golan Heights, Nazareth, Haifa, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. But the popular music group which is rated as one of the top five in the region faced a concerted social media and online attack as having participated in a politically unacceptable act.

Because the band members received visas from the Israeli embassy in Amman the band was attacked as having contributed to normalising relations with the Israelis.

The band, Autostrad, identifies itself as “an Ammani world, reggae, funk band from Jordan. Fronted by lead singer Yazan Alrousan, Autostrad was formed in 2007 with guitarist Hamza Arnaout, keyboardist Wisam Qatawneh, bassist Avo Demerjian, saxophonist Bashar Abdelghani and drummer Burhan Ali.

The online and social media campaign was launched by a number of young Jordanians and Palestinians, including some who are citizens of Israel .In an article published on a number of progressive sites, the writer says the band is welcome to Palestine only after it is liberated.A hashtag “welcome after it is liberated” also went viral as attacks against the music group mushroomed.

Efforts to boycott Israel are generally focused on international academics wanting to visit Israeli towns, not Palestinian locals inside Israel. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel says that it has developed guidelines on this issue in consultation with Palestinian civil society organisations since 2007. “All Arab-passport holders entering any part of historic Palestine (67 or 48) on an Israeli visa are normalising with Israel. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

The content of the poster seems surreal. A well-known Jordanian music group lists the locations of its concerts for Oct. 5 through 12 — the Golan Heights, Nazareth, Haifa, Ramallah and Jerusalem’s Old City for its last show. The decision by the highly successful Autostrad, led by Yazan Rousan, to cross the Jordan River using a visa issued by the Israeli Embassy in Amman has resulted in a backlash among its young Arab fans.

The planned tour has been met with a barrage of online and social media attacks for the band “normalizing” relations with the State of Israel. Autostrad has no publicly stated plans to interact with non-Palestinian Israelis, and the band’s concerts are aimed at Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as Syrians and Palestinians living in the Golan Heights and other Arab areas occupied in 1967.

The most specific and repeated argument has been made by Budour Hassan, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who argued that obtaining a visa from the Israeli Embassy in Jordan is a slippery slope that will make it easier for Arabs to “normalize” relations with Israel, not only to sing in front of an Arab audience. To be fair, Hassan does recognize that the issue of traveling to Israel has many points of view and feels that her criticism does not apply to Palestinians and non-Arabs holding other passports.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx2WogalhQI&feature=youtu.be

Video of the group at a concert in Cyprus, September 2012 (Sonia Breda) Continue Reading »