Daoud  Kuttab

The world’s preoccupation with Syria and the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have provided radical Israelis with the long-awaited opportunity to establish a regular Jewish presence on land around Islam’s third-holiest mosque, which they consider the holy Jewish Temple Mount. What was a once-in-a-season infiltration by radical Jews has now become a nearly daily affair often involving mainstream Israelis.

Israeli security forces are also carrying out unprecedented closures of the entire mosque area to accommodate the growing interest of mainstream Jews rather than a few radicals. As extreme political forces within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Knesset have cemented their power, the Israeli police have raised the security flag less and less often. The chief of Israeli police has the right to judge whether he feels that the entry of Jews into the mosque compound would cause a security risk.

One of the most active opponents of the constant Israeli actions is an Israeli citizen. Sheikh Raed Salah, the former mayor of the Arab-Israeli city of Um al Fahm, has created an organization to defend the rights of Muslims and their properties in Jerusalem and Israel at large. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

It seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began attacking Iran and its newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani, even before the microphone at the UN General Assembly was turned on in New York. Without a proper introduction, except for recalling millennia-old Persian-Jewish relations, the Israeli leader launched into a blistering, take-no-prisoners attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A content analysis of Netanyahu’s speech brings home his obsession with Iran and Rouhani. In his 3,124-word speech, Netanyahu mentioned “Iran” or “Iranian” 70 times. The word “Rouhani,” uttered 25 times, even topped the word “Israel,” mentioned 24 times.

The Likud prime minister used multiple arguments against Iran and Rouhani. He pulled out the card about Iran’s human rights record. He referred to a 2005 quote by Rouhani about nuclear weapons capability to illustrate what he hinted at was a worldwide trick to convince the international community that the current president of Iran is anything but a moderate. He called his “favorite” Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a “wolf in wolf’s clothing” while dubbing Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”   Continue Reading »

by Daoud Kuttab

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Twitter account made clear the goal of his late September visit to the United States. Before embarking on a plane Saturday [Sept. 28] for New York, Netanyahu posted on the 140-character social media site the simple statement, “I will tell #truth in face of the sweet-talk and the onslaught of smiles. One must talk facts and one must tell the truth.”

It is no coincidence that the Israeli leader is focusing on the issue of truth after President Hassan Rouhani clearly sucked the venom from Israel’s continuous attacks on Iran. By stressing issues like telling “the truth” and complaining about “the sweet-talk,” the Israeli leader is reflecting on the effectiveness of the newly elected and moderate Iranian leader to settle issues that have caused his country so much trouble in recent years. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

I received the following email Thursday, Sept. 26:

Intifada Youth Coalition (IYC-PAL) invites the media to report on our protests across Palestine on Friday, Sept. 27, designated “Al-Aqsa Friday,” against Israel’s gross violations of human rights and continued brutal occupation of Palestine. –Third Intifada of Anger against the Occupation in all Palestine

This call for public demonstrations, which ended with a link to a Facebook account, is certainly not new in Palestine. Nor is the fact that it originates from the youth, the largest demographic among the Palestinian population, or its dependence on new media rather than traditional media.

What is new is that the call comes at a time when Palestinian negotiators are participating in talks that aim to find a permanent solution for all outstanding issues between Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, Mahmoud Abbas alluded to this in his first ever address to the United Nations as the president of Palestine, saying that the Palestinian objective is to achieve a permanent and comprehensive agreement and a peace treaty between the states of Palestine and Israel. Abbas insisted that such an agreement will “resolve all outstanding issues and answer all questions, which allows us to officially declare an end of conflict and claims.”

Abbas spoke of his age (78), implying that this is the last chance to make peace with him and others in his generation. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Declaring a problem to be dangerous always brings to mind the story of the man who repeatedly, but falsely, warned his fellow villagers about a wolf, only to find a lack of response when the wolf does in fact appear. This seems to be the situation unfolding in Jerusalem these days, specifically at the Haram al-Sharif compound, the site of Al-Aqsa mosque — the third-holiest mosque in Islam.

The Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, is a walled area comprising one-sixth of Jerusalem’s Old City. The 35-acre compound includes mosques, museums, gardens and religious schools. For 46 years, Israelis and Palestinians have been able to agree on how to manage this extremely sensitive religious area.

Since the Israeli occupation that began in June 1967, the understanding has allowed for the leadership of the Islamic waqf, or religious endowment, to run the affairs of the mosque and regulate visitors to it. This has been accomplished without Israel ceding what it considers to be its sovereignty over and right to east Jerusalem, which it annexed unilaterally within weeks of its occupation. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Analysts often sift through royal speeches, interviews and addresses to find trends in the Kingdom’s senior leadership direction. However, sometimes one must focus on the phrases and themes that are not mentioned in these texts.

Technological development has enabled in-depth, high-speed access to check how often specific words or phrases are used in certain texts.

In the last few months, King Abdullah II issued a fourth discussion paper, held a meeting with the Chinese News Agency’s editorial board, published an article in World Policy Journal and gave a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations. Continue Reading »