Jordanian Band’s Israel-Palestine Tour Causes Uproar
By Daoud Kuttab The content of the poster seems surreal. A well-known Jordanian music group lists the locations of its concerts for Oct. 5 through 12 — the Golan Heights, Nazareth, Haifa, Ramallah and Jerusalem’s Old City for its last show. The decision by the highly successful Autostrad, led by Yazan Rousan, to cross the Jordan River using a […]
Israeli Restictions at Al-Aqsa Could Spark Violence
Daoud  Kuttab The world’s preoccupation with Syria and the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have provided radical Israelis with the long-awaited opportunity to establish a regular Jewish presence on land around Islam’s third-holiest mosque, which they consider the holy Jewish Temple Mount. What was a once-in-a-season infiltration by radical Jews has now become a nearly daily affair […]
Netanyahu’s Iran Obsession A Diversion from Palestine
By Daoud Kuttab It seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began attacking Iran and its newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani, even before the microphone at the UN General Assembly was turned on in New York. Without a proper introduction, except for recalling millennia-old Persian-Jewish relations, the Israeli leader launched into a blistering, take-no-prisoners […]
Israel’s Hypocritical Attack On Rouhani
by Daoud Kuttab Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Twitter account made clear the goal of his late September visit to the United States. Before embarking on a plane Saturday [Sept. 28] for New York, Netanyahu posted on the 140-character social media site the simple statement, “I will tell #truth in face of the sweet-talk and […]
Israel Can Prevent Third Intifada By Ending Occupation
By Daoud Kuttab I received the following email Thursday, Sept. 26: Intifada Youth Coalition (IYC-PAL) invites the media to report on our protests across Palestine on Friday, Sept. 27, designated “Al-Aqsa Friday,” against Israel’s gross violations of human rights and continued brutal occupation of Palestine. –Third Intifada of Anger against the Occupation in all Palestine This […]
Israeli Actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque Raise Palestinian Fears
By Daoud Kuttab Declaring a problem to be dangerous always brings to mind the story of the man who repeatedly, but falsely, warned his fellow villagers about a wolf, only to find a lack of response when the wolf does in fact appear. This seems to be the situation unfolding in Jerusalem these days, specifically at the […]
“Media†disappears from official royal discourse
By Daoud Kuttab Analysts often sift through royal speeches, interviews and addresses to find trends in the Kingdom’s senior leadership direction. However, sometimes one must focus on the phrases and themes that are not mentioned in these texts. Technological development has enabled in-depth, high-speed access to check how often specific words or phrases are used […]
Israel denies Christian peacemaker from entry
By Daoud Kuttab Israeli security officials at the King Hussein (Allenby) bridge turned back an American peace volunteer who is part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron twice in the past week. Jonathan Brenneman, 25, from St. Marys Ohio was turned back September 25th after a five hour wait at the border crossing. He had been […]
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Comes to Head in Area C
By Daoud Kuttab So long as Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are not producing an agreement, there is at least one area that will continue to be a powder keg: the Jordan Valley. Actions on the ground in any conflict often reflect points of political disagreement. The US-sponsored negotiations, which are expected to last nine months, appear […]
US Pushes Palestine Economic Plan To Break Stalemate on Peace Talks
By Daoud Kuttab The apparent failure of the ongoing secret Palestinian-Israeli talks appears to have led their US sponsors to put more emphasis on economic issues. A three-year plan has been drawn up by the US peace delegation working through the offices of the Quartet, still nominally headed by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. […]