Birth pains of democratic politics
The following appeared in Jordan times By Daoud Kuttab After months of consultations a new/old government has finally received the vote of confidence. The 82 for, 66 against vote from Parliament gives Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s second government the confidence to carry out its programme, which includes removing subsidies on electricity tariffs and dealing with […]
Palestinian Women Set Back By Conservative Society
By Daoud Kuttab The image will remain engraved in many people’s memory about the first intifada. A Palestinian woman dressed in a skirt and blouse holds here high heel shoes in one hand and throws a stone on members of the occupying Israeli forces with the other. Clearly the image is not so much […]
Free movement should be `guaranteed immediately’
Following appeared in the Jordan Times. By Daoud Kuttab This week, hundreds of Palestinians attempting to return home using the only crossing point allowed to them, the King Hussein Bridge, found themselves stuck for hours and hours at the bridge. It appears that Israeli bridge officials were not ready to accept the Palestinians, which included […]
Israel Responds to Obama’s Generosity With Nastiness
By Daoud Kuttab Following appeared in the Jordan Times and Huffington Post also check out these other stories http://forward.com/articles/175016/salam-fayyad-doomed-by-israel-and-palestinian-enem/?p=all http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/salam-fayyad-resignation-abbas-replacement.html Israel may say that it wants peace, but the reality has become clear. Once U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry left the region, Israel felt protected by the charm handed […]
Israel, Arabs Reverse Roles On Peace and War
By Daoud Kuttab “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.â€Â So states the preamble to the constitution of UNESCO. I refer to this passage in light of the Israeli government recently dismissing the efforts of US President Barack Obama and his […]
Israeli Occupation Brings Down Fayyad
By Daoud Kuttab The outgoing Palestinian prime minister was a unique Palestinian who fought hard against many odds, but in the end was unable to carry the mantle alone and without accommodations from Israel, the US or fellow Arab countries. What is unique about Salam Fayyad is that he combined true patriotic national service […]
Israel Bars Gaza Palestinians From Bethlehem Marathon
By Daoud Kuttab Sports has often been a national unifying factor. Palestine is no exception. Palestinian sports has received public and community attention for some time, indeed, ever since the International Olympic committee allowed Palestinian athletes to participate in the Atlanta games in 1996. Majid Abu Maraheel, 32, a distance runner from Gaza and […]
Hamas Returns to Student Politics In West Bank
By Daoud Kuttab University life and Palestinian nationalism have been inseparable since the 1960s, when the Fatah movement was formed by student activists in Egyptian universities. Since then and throughout the world, Palestinian nationalism has been part of university life, and nowhere more so than in Palestine. This fact has not gone unnoticed by […]
Who Will Replace Salam Fayyad As Palestinian Prime Minister?
By Daoud Kuttab In order to predict who will replace the outgoing Palestinian prime minister, one needs to figure out the real reason for Mahmoud Abbas’ acceptance of his resignation. Did Abbas accept Salam Fayyad’s resignation because of his failure to fundraise, or was it because of internal pressure from Abbas’ Fatah movement? Three possible candidates’ […]
Israel Continues to Ignore Arab Peace Offer
By Daoud Kuttab Something strange happened during the last Arab League summit meeting, held in March in the Qatari capital, Doha. The final announcement, which typically presents the points of agreement reached to by the participating heads of state, was possibly the longest communiqué drafted by an Arab summit. It went on and on, detailing the […]