Category: Articles

  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…

  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…

  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….

  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…

  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 The dual resignations of Mohammad Shtayyeh and Saeb Erekat (who later rescinded his) reflect the Palestinians’ general lack of faith in the negotiations, but also their desire not to burn…

  By Daoud Kuttab A partial Palestinian teachers strike last weekend turned into a full strike on Monday, Dec. 2, with plans to hold a demonstration outside the prime minister’s office on Tuesday. The Palestinian government thought that it could avert the full strike when it won a decision by the Palestinian High Court of Justice calling on the Teachers Union to delay the strike until the government has a chance…

  By Daoud Kuttab As is often the case, the news concerning the circumstances of the Nov. 27 Israeli killings of three Palestinian men is being told from one side because the other side is unable to be respond or be heard. The undisputed facts are that members of the Israeli army stopped a vehicle carrying three Palestinian…

  by Daoud Kuttab As the Christmas season approaches and as tourism to the Holy Land rises, the fight over holy sites has also escalated. The Palestinian Ministry of Information published on its website a report citing an official complaint by the Palestinian ambassador in Rome, Mai al-Kalia, against Israel, which is trying to appropriate Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian ministry, the Israeli…

  By Daoud Kuttab After the signing of a breakthrough agreement between the world community and Iran, the question on Palestinian lips now is how this affects the Palestinian cause and specifically the current Palestinian-Israeli talks. On the surface, the questions seem strange as there is no direct relationship between the Iranian nuclear file and the Palestinian issue. But…

Following appeared in the Jordan Times By Daoud Kuttab On the surface, it is hard to see any direct link between the recently concluded deal by Iran and the P5+1 group and the Palstinian-Israeli peace talks. If, as the world community believes, this deal makes the world safer, then it should speed up, rather than…