Storm recovery could bring Abbas to Gaza
By Daoud Kuttab The Dec. 16 Facebook message was simple yet powerful: “Imagine if President [Mahmoud] Abbas visited Gaza and took a look at his people there following the winter storm. Imagine how he would be received by Ismail Haniyeh. … People who have been drowning will certainly come out and welcome him,†she concluded. The entry was by Rawya Shawa, a prominent […]
Prominent Palestinian psychiatrist Eyad Sarraj dies
By Daoud Kuttab In the middle of the Alexa blizzard, which turned the Gaza Strip into a giant lake, Gaza lost one of its most respected men. Eyad Sarraj, a Palestinian refugee and psychiatrist, died on Dec. 17 with the same dignity that he lived. While most Gazans have little choice of where to live, Sarraj did. During […]
Abbas to visit Gaza?
By Daoud Kuttab The Dec. 16 entry on her Facebook was simple yet powerful: “Imagine if President [Mahmoud al-] Abbas would visit Gaza and take a look at his people there following the Alexa storm. Imagine how he will be received by Ismail Haniyeh. … People who have been drowning will certainly come out and welcome him.†The […]
Attack on Hanan Ashrawi unfair
By Daoud Kuttab A man was once labeled a terrorist and held in a South African prison. He and his people appealed to the world for an end to the apartheid regime ruling his country, but the world’s governments failed to respond. They appealed to the world’s citizenry and to private companies, asking them to divest from […]
Israel-Jordan water agreement not worth the hype
By Daoud Kuttab A $400 million agreement to create a desalination plant in Aqaba and to pump brine water to the Dead Sea is a far cry from what is being hyped by Israel as an “historic agreement. The memorandum of understanding signed at the World Bank on Dec. 9 by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian officials […]
At Mandela funeral, Abbas says he opposes boycott of Israel
By Daoud Kuttab The question to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was appropriate in time and place. At a news conference in Johannesburg where he was attending Nelson Mandela’s funeral, Abbas was asked about his position regarding the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. Abbas’ answer, while not surprising for […]
US, EU pressure Palestinians to accept security plan
By Daoud Kuttab It might be a coincidence or hype from the Palestinian leadership. But a look at the narrative being weaved by the Palestinian leadership and one has no alternative but to think that the Americans and Europeans have joined the Israelis in trying to extract concessions from the Palestinians. The latest source […]
Popular Front’s role wanes in Palestinian politics
By Daoud Kuttab Mention of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) used to arouse fear and intimidation in Israel and around the world. The radical Palestinian organization founded in the late 1970s by George Habash, a Palestinian Christian physician from Lydda, became a household name after it carried out spectacular airline hijackings and other daring acts. On Dec. […]
PALESTINE PULSE
By Daoud Kuttab The passing away of the leader of the South African liberation movement, Nelson Mandela, at the age of 95 brings to the forefront historic and parallel comparisons between the African national movement led by the African National Congress (ANC) and that of Palestinians led by the Palestine Liberation Organization. For years, the […]
Kerry will find pessimism in Palestine
By Daoud Kuttab When US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the region this week, he is certain to find Palestinian expectations at an all-time low regarding any possible breakthrough in the peace talks with Israel. The dual resignations of Mohammad Shtayyeh and Saeb Erekat (who later rescinded his) reflect the Palestinians’ general lack of faith in the negotiations, but also their desire not to burn […]