Nov
24
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
Suleiman al Kabaili sits in an office that has clearly been rearranged to convert it into a makeshift studio. The wall behind the desk has a naked nail that used to hold a framed photo of the Libyan dictator. Suleiman, a radio studio director, dates the genesis of the current crop of media to an event exactly one year before the launch of the 17th of February revolution.
“We were producing a radio programme called “good evening Benghazi” on the local Benghazi state-owned radio station. The programme was dealing with local issues with a critical approach and had discussed the call for investigation of the Abu Slim massacre in which 1,200 are reported to have been killed. The following day we were called by the security and detained.” Continue Reading »
Nov
24
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
The first thing you notice upon entering Mitiga Airport in Tripoli is a series of signs with the word “No” in capital letters next to illustrations of automatic weapons. The second thing is just how liberally most Libyans interpret these rules.
In the days following the death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the rules were not quite in effect. Revolutionaries nonchalantly toted their Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers as they whiled away their preboarding hours at the gate. An airport official roamed the terminal with a gun marked with a bar-code tag, beseeching the owner to claim his checked luggage. Continue Reading »
Nov
24
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
“Ziara azima” (fabulous visit). This was the description Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave to the unexpected visit King Abdullah made to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
The King’s visit on Monday was the first to Palestine in a decade. He didn’t visit or meet any Israeli official.
It is not that the King and Abbas do not see each other. Almost every time that the PLO leader leaves Ramallah to travel abroad he makes a stop to visit his “brother”, King Abdullah. However, what makes this particular visit important is its public nature. Continue Reading »
Nov
17
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said this week that he was quite happy to step down from his position in order to remove any obstacle in the way of Palestinian reconciliation.
It is not the first time he made such a statement, but this time it is politically important, and timely.
Fayyad’s statement comes as PLO’s efforts at the UN Security Council failed to produce any positive results and talks of reconciliation have once again heated up. Continue Reading »
Nov
10
2011
By Daoud Kuttab
If the UN bid for Palestinian statehood has shown anything, it has shown the Palestinians, again, who their friends are.
It was clear, despite US President Barack Obama’s earlier rhetoric, that US would not move in any direction that would upset the Israelis. But it was not only Washington and the British (Tony Blair and David Cameron); it was also the French who are nowhere close to being the true friends of Palestine. Continue Reading »
Nov
03
2011
Daoud Kuttab
A visitor to Libya now, be it to Benghazi or Tripoli, cannot help but make some comparisons between the Libyan revolution and the Palestinian Intifada.
Walk the streets of liberated Libya and you will immediately notice graffiti on the walls and the liberation flags on all locations. To be fair, the Libyan graffiti is much more colorful and creative. The image of Muammar Qaddafi — often referred to as the despot — with his distinctive hairdo, overwhelms all other images. Graffiti in Tripoli and Benghazi naturally praises the February 17 revolution and flags of the new Libya adorn every possible location. Continue Reading »