Archive for December, 2006

Dec 26 2006

While the fires rage

Published by under Articles,US-Middle East

The following appeared in the Jerusalem Post.

By Daoud Kuttab

After the collapse of the bilateral and unilateral efforts, the time has come for multilateralism. Palestinian-Israeli bilateral talks saw a high point in the Oslo process, but have stalled ever since. Israel´s unilateralism, both in south Lebanon and Gaza, has also been a major failure. Continue Reading »

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Dec 22 2006

Civil servants are the biggest losers

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

By Daoud Kuttab

The biggest losers in the current political stalemate in Palestine have been the civil servants. Their total number is a bit over 150,000. The actual civil servants are 73,000 and those on the security payroll from the various apparatuses are said to be 85,000. Add to this number those who are retired and the families of the prisoners and martyrs, and you get possibly up to 175,000 Palestinians who have not been paid since February 2006, when the present Haniyeh government was elected.

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Dec 22 2006

‘Biggest losers’

Published by under Blogs

By Daoud Kuttab

The biggest losers in the current political stalemate in Palestine have been the civil servants. Their total number is a bit over 150,000. The actual civil servants are 73,000 and those on the security payroll from the various apparatuses are said to be 85,000. Add to this number those who are retired and the families of the prisoners and martyrs, and you get possibly up to 175,000 Palestinians who have not been paid since February 2006, when the present Haniyeh government was elected.

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Dec 21 2006

All because the stupid Israeli computer

Published by under Blogs

 By Daoud Kuttab
 
I am sitting in a bus shelter on a dark highway. Cars are going by but no one is stopping. The clock on the computer reads 6:19 it is pitch black outside, the only light is coming from my lap top whose battery is signaling that it full. I have thirty minutes to kill until my ride arrives. Where am, what am I doing, why I am here?

Today is Thursday the 20th of December, I arrived at tel aviv airport this morning from Copenhagen at a little after midnight. By 2:30 am I was home in Jerusalem knocking on the door for what seemed like 20 minute because my brother Jonathan had latched the door from inside. Continue Reading »

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Dec 11 2006

Divide and Rule

Published by under Blogs

By Daoud Kuttab- The Jerusalem Post

 

A strange phenomenon has been taking place over the past few years. Israel has been carrying out a systematic plan to try and separate Gaza from the West Bank. Little attention has been given to this effort separating people – and a country – using administrative measures.

This phenomenon began in the late 1980s with the launch of the Palestinian intifada, was accelerated in the beginning of the second intifada in 2000, and has been accelerated even more since the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, causing a critical human and economic crisis.

 

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Dec 05 2006

Three conditions for a successful ceasefire

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

by Daoud Kuttab

Three conditions must obtain for ceasefire agreements to work. They need to be mutual, supervised by a neutral party and supported by continuous political negotiations. Only the first condition seems to have been met this time around, and for the fire to cease we need to work on the remaining two conditions.

Although nothing has been signed by the conflicting parties, the condition of mutuality seems to have been fulfilled by an Israeli willingness to be involved in what amounts to an understanding rather than an agreement. As such, this ceasefire seems closer to the understandings reached in Lebanon or with the Syrians that have worked even though they were not put on paper by the parties to the conflict. It therefore bodes well that we seem to have overcome the initial hurdle that has been delaying movement on this front.

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Dec 05 2006

Three conditions for a successful ceasefire

Published by under Blogs

by Daoud Kuttab

Three conditions must obtain for ceasefire agreements to work. They need to be mutual, supervised by a neutral party and supported by continuous political negotiations. Only the first condition seems to have been met this time around, and for the fire to cease we need to work on the remaining two conditions. Although nothing has been signed by the conflicting parties, the condition of mutuality seems to have been fulfilled by an Israeli willingness to be involved in what amounts to an understanding rather than an agreement. As such, this ceasefire seems closer to the understandings reached in Lebanon or with the Syrians that have worked even though they were not put on paper by the parties to the conflict. It therefore bodes well that we seem to have overcome the initial hurdle that has been delaying movement on this front.

Continue Reading »

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Dec 01 2006

‘Blessed are those with low expectations for they shall not be disappointed’

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

Daoud Kuttab
The repeated disappointments Palestinians have witnessed over the years have greatly lowered the expectations of most that real change is possible regarding the continuous illegal occupation of their country. Recalling the Sermon on the Mount, which took place on Palestinian lands, one activist created his version of one of the beatitudes that reads: “Blessed are those with low expectations for they shall not be disappointed.”

Despite the proclamation of the US president and now even the prime minister of Israel that one day there will be a sovereign, viable Palestinian state on contiguous land, most Palestinians are now looking for partial relief only on the last portion of this international promise to Palestinians.

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