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Strategy for Palestine still missing crucial parts
The Palestinian strategy towards statehood is making significance progress among certain international political circles, but it is still lacking the necessary coordination and cohesion to bear the desired results.
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The need for genuine multi party system in the Arab world
By Daoud Kuttab When French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe visited the occupied territories last week, a group of young Palestinians were given a chance to speak to him in Ramallah. After asking Juppe whether he would participate in resisting occupation of France, they turned to the issue of Palestinian politics, especially how negotiations are being…
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My three days in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
I spent three days in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attending a seminar for the renewed sesame street program Iftah ya Simsim. The conference was well organized and the attendees mostly from the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council were very keen on its success. My impressions of the Saudi capital and…
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What leverage to reach Palestinian statehood?
By Daoud Kuttab Negotiators the world over are taught that in order to maximise one’s bargaining position, they should always have credible alternatives. If you enter negotiations – whether you are a worker, union leaders, a businessman or a political leader – you need to be willing to walk out if your reasonable requirements are…
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Road to Palestine becoming clearer, but still difficult
By Daoud Kuttab The marathon of speeches that the US capital Washington witnessed last week cleared the view as to what is needed for Palestinians to reach their coveted independent state. Clearing the view, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that getting a state will be easy or attainable in the near future.
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When Obama blinked first, Mitchel’s mission was doomed
By Daoud Kuttab – Special to CNN The appointment of George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East Peace for the newly-sworn-in U.S. president was a source of much hope in the Middle East. Senior U.S. officials toured the region soon thereafter to make sure people understood the importance of the appointment and its timing. Mitchell took…
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What Obama Should say?
When US President Barack Obama makes his scheduled speech today, he will have to deal with a totally different kind of Arab world than when he took office or when he made his famous Cairo speech. Arab peoples led by youth, who constitute the vast majority of the population, have found their power and have…
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Mahmoud Abbas: Mr. Consistency
Say what you may about the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but supporters and opponents agree on one thing: he is consistent.
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For most Arabs, bin Laden and his views are long-dead
If al-Qaeda followers turn to Yemen to pursue the work of Osama bin Laden’s network, they will be in for a surprise. The people of Yemen, like most of the Arab world, have long since divorced themselves from bin Laden and his ideology, as they are showing in the youth-led Arab uprising. For the past few…
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Will a Palestinian state be born this fall?
By Daoud Kuttab – Special to CNN I place the chances for the birth of a Palestinian state this fall at fifty-fifty. The world community, including the United States, seems to favor the idea. Yet there is clearly a lack of political will and muscle for pushing Israel to seriously negotiate the emergence of Palestine.