By Daoud Kuttab For a moment at the end of the summer, it appeared that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was defeated. The Gaza war, which he was unable to do much about, badly hurt his reputation. The transcripts of the three-way meeting with the emir of Qatar and Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal had made…

Following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper By Daoud Kuttab After the collapse of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, in April, the July war on Gaza, the August drowning of hundreds trying to emigrate to Europe and the September war of words between their two major factions, Palestinians welcomed this week a series of unexpectedly good news….

By Daoud Kuttab After debate ended Oct. 13 in Westminster and the votes were cast, 274 British members of Parliament (MPs), representing major parties as well as diverse communities, passed a motion calling on their government to recognize the state of Palestine. “The vote is symbolic, but the discussion is essential,” Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian…

By Daoud Kuttab Sometimes the product becomes better known than the town or country of origin. This happened to the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, whose brew was described by Time Magazine as “the beer that made Taybeh famous.” The name of the beer and the town, which means “good” in Arabic, was given to this Palestinian village by…

By Daoud Kuttab For Swedes and Palestinians who have followed Swedish foreign policy toward Palestine, the announcement in Stockholm of the government’s intention to recognize the State of Palestine came as no surprise. In his inaugural speech Oct. 3, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven explained his administration’s decision, stating, “The conflict between Israel and Palestine can…

By Daoud Kuttab It might seem counterintuitive, but the current Palestinian-Israeli hostility is a healthy return to what relations between occupiers and the occupied should be. Thus far, it is largely a rhetorical escalation in hostilities, but such words often quickly become action. In this war of words, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking before the UN General Assembly, called Israeli…

By Daoud Kuttab Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is possibly making his last effort to try to bring about an independent state. The odds are against him, but he has a plan and he appears to be set to giving it his last best shot. Abbas’ speech at the UN General Assembly attempted to lay down the…

following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper By Daoud Kuttab Barbar was publishing media reports, running her own media training centre and was active in the field of women’s rights, but the one place she literally was dreaming to go to was the occupied West Bank. Not only had she not visited other parts of…

By Daoud Kuttab When I met Islam Barbar in a Gaza restaurant in 2012 while on a human rights mission, I was impressed with her cheerful demeanor but taken aback by the hopelessness that she felt. Although Barbar was publishing media reports, running her own media training center and active in women’s rights issues, the…

By Daoud Kuttab On paper it looks like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his counterparts in Hamas need each other. Abbas will be unable to carry out Gaza’s reconstruction or even talk convincingly to the world about the future of Palestine without the acquiescence of the Islamists. On the other hand, Hamas cannot get a…