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Will East Jerusalem airport become another Jewish settlement?
By Daoud Kuttab Like so many locations, Palestine’s first airport has three names, each reflecting a different narrative. When it was established in 1920 by the British mandatory government of Palestine, it was given the name “Jerusalem Airport.†A photo taken in 1969 after the 1967 Israeli occupation reflects the original name, albeit with the…
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Enforcement of Ramadan laws varies among Palestinian cities
By Daoud Kuttab Samia Danna, a young Palestinian woman from Jerusalem, is worried about how she will get through Ramadan this year. Danna works in Ramallah at a communications company, and the holy month has arrived while she is six months pregnant. Although Islam exempts pregnant women and others (the sick, travelers and women menstruating) from the all-day…
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Palestine hopes to join Interpol this fall
By Daoud Kuttab Palestine is hoping to upgrade its observer status to a full membership in Interpol this fall. The international police organization’s 85th General Assembly is set to take place in November in Bali, Indonesia.  It was reported that European police officials are working with the Palestinians to prepare them for the upcoming discussion. Joeri Van…
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Netanyahu’s warped logic
    By Daoud Kuttab After initially hinting that Israel might be open to some elements of the 2002 Arab Peace Plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu totally backtracked. “The Arab Peace Initiative includes positive elements that can help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,†Netanyahu said shortly after right-wing member of Knesset…
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Occupied East Jerusalem Needs to Be Free
By Daoud Kuttab In its attempt to force itself on the Palestinians of Jerusalem, the Israeli government and various Israeli radical groups have an arsenal of actions, activities and slogans all with the same purpose. Unable to remove Palestinians from Jerusalem or wrestle total control over the holy city, various attempts are made to make…
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Why Palestinians are tuning into this reality TV show to select the next president
By Daoud Kuttab The bio of Waed Qannam reads like the perfect resume for a potential president of Palestine. Born in the Arroub refugee camp near Hebron in 1992; graduated in law from Palestine’s leading university, Al-Quds; holder of a master’s degree in law from Birzeit University; and active in the Fatah movement, Qannam became a resident of Jerusalem after…
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How to end cycle of violence between Palestinians, Israelis
By Daoud Kuttab The cycle of violence in Palestine and Israel has become so predictable that almost anyone following the news can easily forecast what will happen next. For Palestinians, Israelis and the international community, the predictability of the cycle of violence points to lifting the Israeli occupation as the most effective way to end…
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Jerusalem Day changes nothing
By Daoud Kuttab In its attempt to force itself on the Palestinians of Jerusalem, the Israeli government and various Israeli radical groups have an arsenal of actions, activities and slogans all with the same purpose. Unable to remove Palestinians from Jerusalem or wrestle total control over the holy city, various attempts are made to make…
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Is confederation viable for Jordan?
     By Daoud Kuttab More than two years have elapsed since the last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. When the Israelis refused to release Palestinian prisoners from a previously agreed to list, the talks, in the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, went up in the air….
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Netanyahu, Lieberman deal meant to derail French plan
By Daoud Kuttab If the French diplomatic machine had a hard time scheduling a conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry, it will soon find out that its effort to arrange an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be that much harder. In a three-day spat, a behind-the-scenes effort by Kerry and former…