Voting for Palestinian President
I left Amman very early to get to Ramallah for some work and a few interviews. My parents in law also wanted to go to Palestine and stay in Jericho. We left Amman at 7:30 and things went smoothly. My father in law, Odeh a Jordanian who lived many years in Jerusalem has a special […]
Senator John Kerry tells me: “I really think I could have brought peace.â€
The invitation I received from the US embassy was very simple. You are invited to coffee with Senator John Kerry. I looked at the invitation twice to be sure that the name was correct. I was invited to meet with the former presidential candidate. I arrived at the well guarded US embassy in Amman and […]
Election elation
After years of gloom, Palestine woke up this week to a celebration never before witnessed. Huge signs of leading candidates to presidency have replaced posters of martyrs and Intifada graffiti. Local newspapers are also full of advertisements with headlines like: “Ending the occupationâ€, “Security for the citizenâ€, “Reform and development†(Mahmoud Abbas). Or Tayseer Khaled’s […]
“It hurts when you don’t have moneyâ€
I start this day with a previously arranged meeting with the former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher who is now deputy prime minister and minister for administrative affairs. He welcomes me in his huge office in the prime ministry and I can’t help but ask him if in fact he agrees with the description that […]
Will Fateh become a political party?
Midway through an exclusive interview I had with Yasser Arafat in Tunis shortly before his return to Palestine, a year or so after the signing of the Oslo accords, I asked him to comment on some of the PLO factions wanting to become a political party.
U.S. role is main factor
Everyone in the Middle East is crossing their fingers these days, hoping that regional and international leaders will not blow yet another opportunity for Arab-Israeli peace. The role of Palestinian and Israeli leaders is clearly an important factor in moving the peace process ahead, but let there be no mistake about it: The crucial factor […]
The West and the Arab World: The case of media
This is the BBC from London, Voice of America from Washington, Deutsche Welle from Germany, Monte Carlo Radio from France. According to Reuters, AP wire service, UPI news. This is CNN. You are watching the Disney Channel, Hollywood channel, History Channel. Tonight’s feature is The Terminator. Follow the latest episodes of The Bold and the […]
Tuesday November 30th  2004 This week was scary and hard on the road. It began when I made a visit to some relatives who live in the old city of Ramallah. I had gone to deliver a package for them from Jordan and to pick up a package intended for a Jerusalem family who […]
March 14, 2004 Luxor, Egypt I have been invited to participated in a US-Arab media conference scheduled to take place in the southern Egyptian historic city of Luxor. The trip from Amman to Cairo on Egypt Air is an early evening flight but from Cairo to Luxor is flight past midnight. At the Cairo Airport […]
‘Eye on Palestine’ tries to change the image of Palestinians
Television has been both a blessing and a curse for Palestinians. During the first Intifada, one can argue that it was a blessing. It raised the profile of a people refusing to accept living indefinitely under occupation. This Palestinian popular resistance was beamed all over the world and won sympathy and support from people. What […]