Economics vs. Politics in Jordan
By Daoud Kuttab Politics and economics are always intertwined. In Jordan, this was clearly the case when the government raised energy prices. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour went to great lengths on Jordan TV Tuesday night to explain to the Jordanian public why his government was forced to hike prices of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and cooking gas. But […]
War on Gaza Without Political Horizon Futile
By Daoud Kuttab Once again we are witnessing a sharp escalation of violence without any pretense of looking for a political horizon. Israel is shelling Gaza from land, sea and air without even thinking about a political perspective. Pundits and activists will argue over who is to blamefor the current round of violence. Was it theassassination of […]
Egypt weighs heavily on Jordanian politics
By Daoud Kuttab The behavior of Jordan’s Royal Court in the days following the official announcement of the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammad Mursi in Egypt’s presidential election tells an intriguing story. At first, Jordan’s King Abdullah II hesitated to sign a long-sought-after election law. This was followed by approval of the law, a […]
Israel and Palestine after Oslo Accords
By Daoud Kuttab On Sept. 13, 1993, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas met on the South Lawn of the White House to sign the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles, or the Oslo Accords. PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin then sealed the agreement with an historic handshake. The Oslo Accords – the […]
Kudos to Qatar
By Daoud Kuttab Discussions about pan-Arab issues these days undoubtedly include the name of the Gulf country Qatar, repeated in various contexts, often negative. Qatar is behind this or that conspiracy, it is a U.S. puppet, an Israeli collaborator, the brain behind this or that problem or conflict. Wherever there is an issue or a […]
Communicating properly regarding summer time
By Daoud Kuttab The Jordanian Cabinet’s decision to scrap wintertime came at the most difficult time: one day before a long holiday and also one day before the original plan to start wintertime. Furthermore, the rationale for the decision was never fully discussed and defended by those taking it. For years, Jordanian governments determined the […]
Important to communicate
By Daoud Kuttab After attending a debate about the new Elections Law, the moderator told me that MP Abdullah Ensour wanted to talk to me. Ensour, who in the debate organised by Community Media Network opposed the current Elections Law, told me he had seen me on TV in the US years earlier. I had […]
Freedom in Jordan does not extend to information
By Daoud Kuttab Amman, Jordan At an international press-freedom event in Jordan 12 years ago, I was impressed with government officials’ words about the new king’s desire to promote the Internet as a means of free communication. I decided to set up an Internet radio station. AmmanNet.net started as an electronic media experiment. It was created […]
Municipal election fever hits West Bank
By Daoud Kuttab Election fever has hit most Palestinian cities. However, the elections planed for October 20th will only be municipal ones, and only in most West Bank cities (Jerusalemites are not allowed to participate) and will witness the boycott of the Islamic movement. The last time Palestine witnessed elections was in 2006 when pro Hamas […]
Palestine in 2013 Without Abbas or Meshaal
By Daoud Kuttab The Palestinian leadership seems to be on the verge of change. It is very likely that this will be the last year that Palestine will be led by the PLO’s Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’ Khaled Meshaal. Abbas announced over a year ago that he does not plan to run for the presidency of […]