-
Israeli killing of judge at border provokes backlash in Jordan
By Daoud Kuttab The killing of Raed Zeiter, a Palestinian-Jordanian judge, at the entry to the Israeli-controlled side of the King Hussein Bridge on March 10 has resulted in an explosion of anger in the Hashemite kingdom. Protests and marches took place late that night near the Israeli Embassy in Amman. The following day, a vigil at Amman’s Justice Palace saw thousands of lawyers and judges…
-
Israel irked by pro-Palestinian evangelical Christian conference
By Daoud Kuttab A Palestinian college in Bethlehem will host a weeklong conference aimed at weakening the traditional evangelical support to Israel, despite strong Israeli pressures. The third Christ at the Checkpoint Conference at the Bethlehem Bible College is expected to host the “widest and most diverse†group of evangelical Christians, according to conference organizers. The…
-
Israeli Occupier-occupied Paradigm Must End
By Daoud Kuttab For 46 years the bridge connecting the West Bank with Jordan has been a source of hardships, humiliations and extremely long and unnecessary delays, not to mention cumbersome and exaggerated body and baggage searches. This nightmare has to end. What happened on Monday morning March 10th is a symptom of the occupation versus occupied paradigm…
-
‘Omar’ Oscar nomination a win for Palestinian film industry
By Daoud Kuttab When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences met for the 86th Oscars, Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir hosted an all-night party in Amman, hoping Hany Abu-Assad’s “Omar” would win the trophy for best foreign film. “We are burning the midnight candle and crossing our fingers,†she told Al-Monitor before the results were known in the very early…
-
Palestinian government may soon pass transparency law
By Daoud Kuttab The possibility that Palestine will soon have an access-to-information law is looking promising. Concrete steps by the Palestinian government and a public advocacy campaign are being taken to prepare for such a decision. Despite the Palestinian Legislative Council being dormant for seven years due to the internal Palestinian split, Ramallah is poised to pass a…
-
Abbas should condition peace talks on lifting Gaza siege
By Daoud Kuttab The stage appears set, if the Palestinian leadership chooses, to reconcile the Gaza Strip with the West Bank and end the unjust siege that has fallen on Gaza for the past seven years. Palestinian-Israeli peace talks scheduled over a period of nine months are due to end in April. Palestinians had agreed in late…
-
Community radio gets a boost in Jordan
Following appeared in the Jordan Times By Daoud Kuttab Community media received a major boost in Jordan this week with the launch of the third Aswatona conference at the Dead Sea. More than 100 community radio activists gathered at the lowest spot on Earth to talk about the challenges of producing, broadcasting and sustaining community…
-
Amnesty report timely reminder of Israel’s brutal occupation
By Daoud Kuttab In a powerful and comprehensive report, the global human rights organization Amnesty International has sharply criticized Israeli soldiers for their reckless use of force in putting down nonthreatening Palestinian demonstrations. The report calls on Israel to stop using lethal force against Palestinian demonstrators and rescind military orders that reject Palestinian rights to freedom…
-
Palestinians receive little in Israeli-proposed land-swap deal
By Daoud Kuttab The current Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, planned to last nine months, have one month left to produce a peace treaty. Palestinian officials are on record as refusing to extend the talks, while the Israelis are sending clear messages that they want the talks to be extended. In a statement made to the official Palestinian news…
-
Unilateral steps may pave way for lasting Israel-Palestine peace
By Daoud Kuttab US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team seem to have a very clear idea of what they want in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. But the general public seems lost trying to figure out exactly what he is after. A close and thorough analysis of publicly available information, plus knowledge of the area and the…