May
05
2015
By Daoud Kuttab
AMMAN — In the end they withdrew their call for a demonstration. The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan wereplanning to celebrate their 70th anniversary on Friday, in spite of the Jordanian government’s public refusal to allow the event to take place. The huge pressure that the government felt shows that the Muslim Brotherhood continues to be a powerful force.
In Palestine, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s affiliate, Hamas, won student council elections at Bir Zeit University. Student elections there are often seen as a signal of general public sentiment. And in Yemen, Egypt and Libya, support for the Brotherhood has not gone away, despite very strong repressive and violent action against them by the authorities.
Jordan’s leading opposition figure Laith Shbeilat posted an open letter to King Abdullah on his Facebook account, calling on him to allow the Brotherhood to hold their celebrations and reminding him of earlier cases in which repressive attempts against the Muslim Brotherhood actually made them more popular.
Many arguments have been circulated to justify repressive acts against the Muslim Brotherhood. In Egypt, they are accused of being a wolf in sheep’s clothing — a terrorist group masquerading as a peaceful movement. In Palestine and Libya, they are criticized as an undemocratic force that merely exploits democratic elections to gain power whilst ignoring all other democratic principles. Once in government, the Brotherhood is accused of acting dictatorially and of hanging on to power even after they have outstayed their welcome.
In Jordan, a conflict has evolved over the legitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. A split within the movement has provided the government with a chance to take sides, even though the prime minister insisted in Parliament that thegovernment does not take sides in this internal conflict. Continue Reading »
May
05
2015
By Daoud Kuttab
For most Palestinians, July 17, 2015, means very little. But for those who have long been working toward the migration of all Palestinian TV frequencies from analogue to digital, the date has been etched in stone. Mandated by the International Telecommunications Union and approved by the Arab League, all Arab states agreed in 2006 to turn off the analogue TV signals by this date.
In Palestine, the move toward digital broadcasting was preceded by a move to local television broadcasting. Shortly after the Oslo Accord began to be executed, there was a rush to establish local radio and TV stations especially in the cities from which the Israeli army withdrew. At one time, more than
31 local television broadcasting using terrestrial frequencies spread throughout the occupied territories. Nablus, Palestine’s largest city, had the record for having nine local television stations in 1996. However,Â
by 2010, the number of stations was down to 18 local stations and in Nablus down to four. In time, some of these small stations folded or merged into networks such as the
Maan TV network, which has become a national community-owned TV station.
As the target date approached, a frenzy of movement took place on various levels. The Palestinian Telecommunications Ministry produced a 12-page strategy paper that ended with the establishment of a large governmental committee that was mandated to prepare for the migration from analogue to digital. The supervising committee included representatives of relevant ministries including telecommunications, interior and information as well as a representative of Palestine TV, and one representing local TV stations. Birzeit University’s Media Development Center held a number of discussions on the topic and will be shortly producing a long detailed report on the topic by mid-May 2015. Continue Reading »
May
04
2015
By Daoud Kuttab
The news report was short, but was broadcast widely in the Palestinian and Arab media. Social media platforms have been buzzing as well. After 15 years of its unjustified ban, Israel has allowed a few Palestinian doctors to use their West Bank cars to reach Israeli hospitals, where they have been accepted for training.
 The head of the
Palestinian Doctors Association, Nidam Najib, told Al-Monitor that the permission does not include West Bank doctors working for East Jerusalem hospitals, which is where most of the doctors are working.
Nevertheless, Najib said that in general, his association is opposed to any cooperation with Israel. “We have already announced that we boycott Israeli products, including medicines that have a Palestinian alternative. We are also opposed to any act of normalization with the occupation,†he insisted. Najib said that his organization, which represents all Palestinian doctors, was not asked for its opinion on the travel permits for doctors and has no relationship with the decision. However, he said, no disciplinary measures will be taken against doctors who receive permits to drive their cars into Israel.
An Israeli medical source who wished to remain nameless told Al-Monitor the permitting procedure goes through both health ministries, saying, “Applicants have to prove that they work in Israeli hospitals. However, their application has to be approved by the Palestinian Ministry of Health before being issued a permit by the Israeli military coordinator.†Continue Reading »
