Daoud Kuttab

Palestine, media, Jordan, community radio, online journalism

  • Gas and the people of Jordan

    By Daoud Kuttab After 90 minutes of powerful anti-Israeli speeches by 18 members of Parliament, Deputy Speaker Mustapha Amawi called the session over because of lack of quorum. The speakers were incensed by the fact that Jordan and the American Noble Energy Company signed a letter of intent to import gas from the Israeli Leviathan…

  • Arab Knesset members punished for helping their constituency

    By Daoud Kuttab AMMAN — Jamal Zahalka has been a member of the Israeli Knesset in good standing for 13 years. He was first elected to the 16th Israeli legislature in 2003 and has been regularly re-elected since.  But the Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset is now barred from speaking for two months in the Knesset plenary or…

  • A bad deal on Syria

    By Daoud Kuttab A truce reached at the Munich Security Conference last week requires halting the fight in blood-soaked Syria within a week. We have yet to see whether the commitment to a political solution is genuine. The Russians have shown no sign of slowing down their lethal air campaign on Aleppo. Sceptics suspect that Russian…

  • Reconciliation is measured by results

            By Daoud Kuttab For the first time in years, Palestinian reconciliation talks have not received the usual high-calibre media coverage, not even in the Palestinian media. The low level of coverage might be a good thing. The deeply split parties Fateh and Hamas know that their credibility has been eroded by…

  • How Palestine plans to shift its media strategy

    By Daoud Kuttab You would expect the holder of the title “director of strategic communications and English-language spokesman” to talk about how to woo The New York Times or how to convince the BBC for positive write-ups about Palestine. But while Jamal Dajani — appointed Jan. 26 as new media guru for Palestine’s prime minister…

  • Guest workers in Jordan

    By Daoud Kuttab The preliminary results of the national census in Jordan show that Syrian refugees number around 1.3 million. Along with other nationalities, non-Jordanians now compose what amounts to 31 per cent of the total population. Of the 9.5 million people living in Jordan, 6.6 million are Jordanian citizens, according to the Census Bureau….

  • The man behind the future of education in Palestine

    For more than 52 years, Palestinians completing 12th grade have faced a stressful, life-changing experience. Their admission to university has depended on how they do on a single, national exam. The “tawjihi,” the comprehensive matriculation exam designed to test knowledge and ability, has been a source of incredible pressure for students, their families and communities…

  • Abbas defends policy

    By Daoud Kuttab In today’s politically expedient age, it has become rare to see a leader defend one of his own. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, went on air this week, attempting to deflect the avalanche of angry protests directed at the Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj. Faraj and a chief Palestinian negotiator were featured…

  • Palestinian intelligence chief undermines his own political ambitions

    By Daoud Kuttab The head of the Palestinian intelligence service, Maj. Gen. Majid Faraj, is often seen traveling alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In fact, Faraj has been considered by local and international analysts as one of the possible successors of the Palestinian leader.  Faraj rarely talks to the media, but in one of his…

  • When tribal law supersedes civil law

    By Daoud Kuttab A murder took place in Jordan. The suspected killer is known, but unlike in normal cases, this time it was addressed by tribal law. Tribal law is not new in Jordan. It has existed for centuries and the modern nation state has found ways to accommodate it. Civil courts have often been presented…