Licensing AmmanNet’s News Website
By Daoud Kuttab News websites in Jordan have been shaken up ever since the Abdullah Ensour government decided to enforce a controversial law that forces websites that deal with Jordanian news and commentary to obtain a licence, like the newspapers. Unlike the audiovisual law, by equating news websites to newspapers, the legislature has created an unusual […]
Finding unifying goals in Palestine
Following appeared in Jordan Times By Daoud Kuttab Inhabitants of a Palestinian village were told in the late 1930s that the British High Commissioner for Palestine wanted to visit them. As news of the cause for that request was made known, the Palestinian villagers found themselves divided. Some, mostly older people, were happy about the […]
Israel traps Palestinians in negotiations with prisoner card
By Daoud Kuttab One of the problems of political negotiations without a clear reference point is that the parties, especially the stronger party, can change the rules of the game at will. And the absence of a neutral referee on the field allows such a strong party to get away with regularly moving the […]
Palestinian Government Boosts Sports as Means of Resistance
By Daoud Kuttab Throughout the ages, political leaders have used sports as a tool to unify a nation and to provide the people with a sense of nationalistic pride. The case of Palestine is no different. Despite years of indifference by the Palestinian leadership, few Palestinians will disagree that sports received a huge boost […]
The Return of Mohammed Dahlan
By Daoud Kuttab The possibility of the return of former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan to Palestine appears to have improved in recent months. Fatah sources told Al-Monitor that Palestinian Authority President and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has softened his stance toward the former member of Fatah’s Central Committee. The sources, however, cautioned against early celebrations by […]
The mighty pen
This appeared in Columbia Journalism Review magazine. By Alice Su When Hazm al-Mazouni shows his press pass at the entrance to the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, the guards don’t let him in. A 42-year-old native of Hama, Syria, Al-Mazouni’s status in Jordan is clear: refugee. But the guards are wary of […]
Israel’s Release of Palestinian Prisoners: Deja Vu All Over Again
By Daoud Kuttab It seems like an old, scratchy record: Everyone seems to know what to do and what to say. It first started with disinformation followed by governmental maneuvering and ended with a government decision. Now all that everyone is waiting for is the expiration of the mandatory 48 hours. The issue is […]
Palestinians Again Boycott East Jerusalem Elections
By Daoud Kuttab The voter turnout rates tell the story. Israel held elections on Oct. 22 for all its cities and communities as well as for what Israel calls “united Jerusalem.†While the overall national voter turnout rate was 51%, the variation between Arab towns in Israel and Jerusalem were the largest. The largest Palestinian […]
IPI to Release Reporters Guide For Palestine-Israel Conflict
By Daoud Kuttab It has been said that history is written by the victors. If that is the case, then the reporters guide to language use in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soon to be released might reflect that there are no winners in this decades-old struggle. IPI will issue a press release on the booklet tomorrow, Oct. […]
Palestinians again boycott Jerusalem municipal polls
This appeared in today’s Jordan Times.Palestinians again boycott Jerusalem municipal pollsBy Daoud Kuttab | Oct 23, 2013Once again Palestinians living in Jerusalem have made a powerful political statement about the future of the holy city by staying away from the municipal polls. Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that Palestinians avoided the elections of what Israelis […]