Abbas’ move signals end of Oslo phase
By Daoud Kuttab In the midst of discussions regarding possible scenarios following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision not to run for president, few have paid attention to the larger picture. Abbas’ refusal to run for a second term as president of the Palestinian Authority signals a clear end of the Oslo phase in which he, […]
My NY Times blog entitled “Abbas has not resigned”
The following blog appeared in the New York Times “Room for Debate” section Abbas Has Not Resigned Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist and a former Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University. President Abbas’s decision not to seek another term as head of the Palestinian Authority complicates issues but it also clarifies them. The […]
Will the real Hillary please stand up
Conflicting, wavering positions that do not help peace By Daoud Kuttab As first lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton was the darling of Palestinians and Arabs when late in Bill Clinton’s term she uttered the hot button word: Palestine. Since then, she has been swinging depending on the political winds. As a senator for […]
Will elections help or hurt Palestinian reconciliation?
By Daoud Kuttab The decree issued by Mahmoud Abbass, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has pushed the conflict between PLO’s main faction, Fateh, and the Islamic Hamas movement to yet another stage. While many consider this move very risky for the future of Palestine, others feel that it is the only democratic way out […]
The launch of PenMedia’s Studio shoot of Shara’a Simsim
By Daoud Kuttab It was 9:47 on Tuesday October 12th, 2009 when studio director Saed Andoni made the oft repeated word in film and television. Action. The action he was calling for was the filming of a short scene of a limbo set representing the bedroom of the Palestinian muppet character, Karim. The filming of […]
Dangerous currents in Palestine
By Daoud Kuttab The social and economic life in Jerusalem and the West Bank appears to be on a positive upwards trend. Salam Fayyad’s government has been successful (with the help of donors) in providing economic growth; people are working, shops are stocked restaurants and cafés are full of paying customers. An improved security situation […]
The Lessons from the Palestinian Goldstone-gate
The angry political and public reaction to the decision by the Palestinian leadership to postpone discussions of the Goldstone war crimes report requires a sober look at the reasons and lessons that need to be learned to avoid repetition. Anger came from Palestinians and non-Palestinians alike, including many supporters of Palestine. Arab media, especially Al […]
The other Arab world
By Daoud Kuttab AMMAN – Anthropologists define themselves as scientists who observe the behaviour of people. I doubt that there were any anthropologists at the screenings this Monday and Tuesday at the Royal Film Commission. But the unique documentaries made by Arab filmmakers that hundreds of people saw would certainly qualify as visual anthropology. These […]
Can the Muppets Make Friends in Ramallah?
The following appeared in the New York Times Magazine October 4, 2009 Can the Muppets Make Friends in Ramallah? By SAMANTHA M. SHAPIRO This season’s episodes of “Shara’a Simsim,†the Palestinian version of the global “Sesame Street†franchise, were filmed in a satellite campus of Al-Quds University, a ramshackle four-story concrete structure that houses the […]
False symmetry
By Daoud Kuttab One of the most frustrating things about the American policy towards the Middle East is how Israel seems to always be able to get away with it or at least treated symmetrically with the Palestinians, whether there is cause for such symmetry or not. This false symmetry was crystal clear last week […]