Winners and losers in Gaza

Daoud Kuttab

Unlike times of tranquility, wartimes bring the best and worse in many people. Wars are also an opportunity for people to shine or to fail.

The Israeli war on Gaza certainly has its winners and its losers, although the list could change and protagonists can leap from one side to the other.

Here is my preliminary list of winners and losers.

The first and biggest loser has been the international system, which was unable to stop a clearly disproportional assault from taking place. International humanitarian law, which has been gathering some teeth in recent years, has yet to show whether it is able to deter future Israeli politicians, army general, air force pilots and other military commanders from carrying out war crimes against civilian populations.

In politics, my choice for a major loser goes to Qatar, which hosted an Arab summit that failed to gather quorum and allowed the leader of Hamas and two other Damascus-based Palestinian leaders to fill the seats of the Palestinian delegation.

A clear political winner is Omar Suleiman, the director of the Egyptian intelligence, who delivered the ceasefire agreement from the Palestinian factions. Egypt has been regularly blamed in the Arab world for its alleged bias against Hamas. But Suleiman, working behind the scenes, succeeded to pull a rabbit out of the hat and won Egypt back its respectability and possibly helped improve his own chances of running Egypt after the departure of Mubarak.

A major loser is the Israeli prime minister. Ehud Olmert, the departing and disgraced Israeli premier, wins the chutzpa prize. Olmert boasted that he caused the humiliation of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Speaking with self-importance, Olmert bragged how he demanded that president Bush cut short a speech in Philadelphia to take his call and that he basically ordered Bush to force Rice not to vote in favour of a UN Security Council resolution she and her delegation had crafted with European counterparts.

How wise is it to announce that you embarrassed the first African American secretary of state a few days before the first African American president is sworn into office?

In the media, the same outlet was a winner and a loser, I believe. War has a way of lifting or bringing down media outlets. CNN made its debut in the first American war on Iraq. Al Jazeera Arabic succeeded with the second Intifada and this war on Gaza, the clear winner was Al Jazeera International.
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NY Times Blog
JANUARY 19, 2009, 12:04 PM
Four Flaws in the Israeli Cease-Fire

By DAOUD KUTTAB
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist and former professor of journalism at Princeton University. He has been part of a continuing discussion in Room for Debate on the war in Gaza.

While the Egyptian government has succeeded in pulling a rabbit out of its hat in getting the short-term truce supported by Palestinian militants, the result is far short of any serious cease-fire agreement. The unilateral cease-fire declared by Israel and followed 12 hours later by the Palestinians lacks four basic components that any lasting cease-fire must include. The declarations were not multilateral; the cease-fire lacks an independent monitor; no prisoners on either side were released; and there appears no serious effort for a political process that can address the demands of the Gazan fighters.
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It take two to cease fire

by Daoud Kuttab

The decision by the Israeli cabinet to declare a unilateral cease-fire lacks three basic components: a partner, a monitor and a political process.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is famous for his saying that when talking about peace negotiations, it takes two to tango. The same principle applies to the cessation of violence. Israel might think that since it began the attack on its own, it can end it on its own. But the “durable and lasting” cease-fire that the White House has called for requires an Arab partner which has the ability to make it work. Israel’s blind refusal to recognize Hamas has forced it to carry out the unusual step of declaring a unilateral cease-fire with the hope that others can help encourage Hamas to abide by it. The Islamic movement says it is not bound by an agreement which doesn’t include it. Egyptian officials have been saying that both sides need face saving. Incentive is needed to help each down from the tree upon which it has climbed.
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In Gaza: Mostly Phone Terror But Some Encouraging Calls

by Daoud Kuttab

My cousin Sami Awad’s uncle Emile Farah, his wife, three children and an aunt live in the Rimal neighborhood in the center of Gaza city. Thursday was a day of terror for them as well as the Awad’s in Bethlehem. A number of militants seem to have been trapped just outside the housing complex that the Farah’s live in. A four hour exchange took place leaving those living in the high rise building living in sheer terror as they were seeing their deaths with every shelling of their building.

Sami’s job was to call his relatives every five minutes. He told me that every time he talked with his uncle or relatives, the terrified relatives would say that this might be the last time that we talk to you. He told me that he knew they were trying to get away from the fire exchange and every time Sami dialed the phone number he was scared that no one would answer and he would be unsure whether they were killed or that they had escaped the shelling. This uneasiness continued from noon on Thursday till about four in the afternoon. After four terror filled hours (with children crying in the background of many calls) the shooting finally stopped as the militants appeared to have succeeded in escaping the entrapment they had found themselves in. Sami’s uncle who is a retired UN worker finally succeeded in getting a UN vehicle to take the family to the home of his in-laws in a different, not necessarily safer, part of Gaza.

The story of Sami’s relatives brought home to me two major and unusual problems in Gaza. First, the simple fact, that unlike any other war or military conflict, there is absolutely no place for people to run to get away from the hell of the fighting. The borders are closed as the blockade from the north and east are totally sealed by the Israelis. To the south the situation is complicated. If the Egyptians open the borders without any restrictions, they will be accused of violating an international border agreement (that require European and PA forces on the Rafah crossing. Also opening the southern borders without restrictions would cause many to accuse the Egyptians of contributing to the creation of yet another refugee situation. Half of the Palestinians living in Gaza are themselves refugees who left their homes in what is now south Israel in 1948 and have not been able to return ever since.

Another problem that I have been thinking about a lot has to do with family strategies. Without shelters, so many families have witnessed multiple family members dying or being injured as a result of a missile falling on their homes. In times of war, the military often spread out so that no single missile will cause multiple deaths. But for a scared Palestinian family, huddling together seems like the natural way for emotional comfort. A cynical approach at family strategies might call for families to spread out so that some members of any particular family can survive.

One of the staff persons working with me got a call that one of her friends running away from the fighting was hit by a missile killing a mother and her two children. Another Gaza family paid a price for huddling together. The terror of this family was sadly transmitted live on the phone. The unfortunate phone caller was a Palestinian gynecologist. Dr. Izzedin Abu Aish who is working in an Israeli hospital was on the phone with his family in Gaza when their home was shelled causing the death of three daughters and a number of other relatives. A number of others were injured. As I was driving back from Bethlehem to Ramallah I heard the heart wrenching story as it was being told on Israel Radio’s Arabic service. The story related on radio ignored the killings and was paying more attention to the fact that Israel had allowed some of the remaining injured children and family members to arrive at the same Israeli hospital where the doctor is working.

Another interesting use of phone was done with the help of the Internet and the international community. When the Israelis dumped thousands of leaflets with a phone number to call if you wanted to give away the location of Palestinian fighters, someone put the phone number on the Net and thousands of calls started pouring on the Israelis from peace supporters telling the army intelligence person on the other side of the phone to stop the attacks on the people of Gaza.

On the positive side, some encouraging phone calls have been arriving on Palestinians. Upbeat sounding phone calls have been coming to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank from anonymous Arab callers in Egypt and Libya. The callers, who seem to be choosing phone numbers randomly just to make statements of support to any Palestinian they can reach. My daughter, Tamara, received such a call from a Libyan caller who wishes Palestinian victory and made statements of support and encouragement. Another phone call to one of my colleagues in Ramallah came from an Egyptian Islamist-sounding caller. My colleague gave them the phone number of a secular left wing friend of hers in Gaza.

By Ilan Ziv and Daoud Kuttab

For over twenty years we have worked together documenting the struggle between our peoples with the goal of saving our humanity, with the belief in the sanctity of life and the power of the rule of law. If we have learned anything in our years of work on the ground in Palestine, Israel and around the world, it is that our two peoples are incapable of solving our conflict by ourselves. We have also come to the strong belief that the US acting in a biased fashion has failed to be the impartial and honest broker it has claimed it will be. Instead we truly believe that there is an international body ,yet to be established, that can save Israel, the Palestinians and indeed the region from this process of self destruction which has been spiraling out of control .
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Following appeared on the online version of the New York Times
The Ace in Obama’s Pocket
By Daoud Kuttab

Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist and former professor of journalism at Princeton University, joins our panel of analysts to discuss Israel’s war against Hamas, which entered its 18th day on Monday.

The United States is the most important country that can actually do something about the crisis in the Middle East. America has stood with Israel, defended it even when there was international consensus against it. But Palestinians and Arabs think that Barack Obama will be different. They think he will be an honest broker in the conflict. Former presidential advisers like Dennis Ross and Elliot Abrams were advocates of Israel in the White House rather than defenders of America’s broader interest in the region.
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By DAOUD KUTTAB

AMMAN, January 12, 2009 (MENASSAT) – Last Friday was a slow day at the offices and studios of Radio al Balad in Amman. All the staff were off for the weekly holiday leaving a minuscule skeleton staff to run the station. But you would never have guessed it by listening to 92.4 FM in the Amman metropolitan area.

The station ran field interviews from throughout the city during what security sources said were some 30 protest actions on Friday. Play by play coverage went out on the airwaves as a huge rally was held at King Hussein Sports stadium, and as clashes with the Jordanian police took place later in the day.
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The following appeared in the Huffington Post

If the latest events and the negative role of US diplomacy has shown anything it is that we can’t have the same US policies in regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The news leaks that former Clinton advisor Dennis Ross might be getting the nod to be involved in the new administration as an advisor to the Middle East is certainly not the change that President elect Barack Obama promised during his election campaign.

The prevailing impression in the region and especially among Arabs is that, Dennis Ross was nothing more than a postman for the Israelis. On more than one occasion Arab negotiators have complained that Ross in his job as an American envoy was given them a carbon copy of documents or proposals that the Israelis had sent to their Arab interlocutor. Continue Reading »

Following appeared in the Huffington Post.com

Ten Myths about Gaza

It is known that truth is the first casualty in wars. The current war on Gaza is no different. Below is a list of 10 myths perpetuated by Israel and repeated ad nauseum by many in the media.

Myth # 1 Israel had no alternative

Ever since starting the air campaign the Israelis have been stating that they had no choice but to carry out this invasion. Acting Israeli prime minister repeated this myth saying that Israel had no alternative but to begin the ground war on the Gaza strip.

The truth is that Israel had a clear alternative. The Islamic Hamas movement and the various Palestinian factions in Gaza offered to extend the truce in December if the Israelis agreed to lift the massive blockade and siege on Gaza. Israel also had an even easier alternative, they could have agreed to talk to Hamas and worked out a true and lasting ceasefire, but they choose to refuse to legitimize the rulers of Gaza backed by the so called global war on terror that Israel’s main ally, the Bush Administration has been implementing.
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To Gaza’s Victims, Politics Means Little
My colleague and long-time friend Ayman Bardawil got a call from his family in Rafah. The house he was born and raised in was totally destroyed last week. His brother and family, who live in that house, were miraculously saved because one of his daughters had a cold and they went over next door moments before the house was shelled. These are the kind of stories that you hear every day. Ayman’s family support Fatah, but that didn’t save them from the destructiveness of the Israeli onslaught.
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