Palestinian focus on isolating Israel, continuing ICC efforts
By Daoud Kuttab Weeks before the results of the Israeli elections were known, the Palestine Central Council (PCC) met in Ramallah to decide on the Palestinian strategy. Somehow anticipating a continuation or a shift to the hard right, the council resolved on March 5 to give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the mandate to suspend security cooperation […]
World No Longer Bound to Defend Israel Internationally
By Daoud Kuttab AMMAN — The Israeli electorate had a choice to make. By re-electing a leader whopublicly reneged on his commitments to peace and a two-state solution, they voted against peace. What remains now is how the Palestinians and the world will react to the closure of the charade that was called the peace […]
West Bank refugee camp threatens Palestinian leadership
By Daoud Kuttab The largest Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank is boiling, and the troubles that are usually confined to the Balata camp are now spilling outward, with the main Ramallah-Nablus road blocked by protesters. Continuous gunshots can be heard from the camp, travelers on the road told Al-Monitor. The camp has been […]
Legislative Challenges to the Audiovisual Media in Jordan
By Daoud Kuttab Jordan’s Parliament is expected to discuss a new audiovisual law. The law fulfills the constitutional need of updating all temporary laws. The current audiovisual law, issued in 2002, was seen as ushering in an end to government monopoly of airwaves. Tens of private radio and TV stations have since been licensed, but […]
One Palestinian’s quest for a US visa
By Daoud Kuttab When “Mahmoud” won a scholarship to get his Ph.D. from a US university, he was ambivalent. After all, he had always been politically opposed to the Americans because of their foreign policy even though he was impressed by their democracy. In fact, Mahmoud, a lecturer on media ethics who asked to use a pseudonym because of the sensitivity […]
Is the Oslo process really over?
By Daoud Kuttab A headline featured on the website of Al-Quds, a Palestinian daily, was very clear: “The decision of the Palestinian Central Council means the end of the Oslo era.†The headline was taken from a quote by council member Mustafa Barghouti of Al-Mubadara Party, following the conclusion of the council’s two-day meeting March […]
Palestinian protests in Ramon Prison set to spread
By Daoud Kuttab Throughout history, liberation struggles have been waged inside prisons as much as outside them. When a national struggle stagnates, it is often the prisoners who remind the rest of the nation of the purpose and goals of their fight. February 2015 has proven to be an especially difficult month for Palestinians held in Israeli […]
Shooting of Fatah activist could doom security cooperation
By Daoud Kuttab The Feb. 24 shooting death of 19-year-old Palestinian Jihad al-Jaafari by Israeli troops may have killed the last remaining working feature of the Oslo Accord — the 21-year-old agreement for security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his security forces have been stubbornly resisting calls to end security coordination, which […]
When Palestine Becomes an Issue in Philadelphia Politics
By Daoud Kuttab When council woman Maria D. Quinones Sanchez from the city of Philadelphia walked into the Mas Islamic Center January 30th to meet with members of her constituency, she had no idea that she will find herself embroiled with the same kind of political controversy that is shaking up US-Israeli relations. At the […]
Ministry strike leaves East Jerusalemites in limbo
By Daoud Kuttab Yasmine was born in July 2014 at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center. Six months later, she has yet to get a birth certificate from the Israeli authorities. While her mother Tamara was born and has lived all her life in East Jerusalem, young Yasmine’s sin is that her father hails from the nearby West […]