I have always tried my best to differentiate between Jews and Israelis. It bothers me when Palestinians use these two terms interchangeably.

Every time I cross the Jordan River, I overhear people talking on their cell phones, saying how they just got into the Jewish side, left the Jewish side, or were waiting to go through the Jewish side. Such comments can be heard as people approach or leave an Israeli checkpoint or have any other dealings with Israelis.

Religious preachers use the terms interchangeably when referring to negative actions of the Israelis or the lack of trust in Jewish negotiators, etc. Continue Reading »

The hall where a lively debate had taken place for 80 minutes suddenly went silent. A courageous Jordanian journalist had just asked a feisty candidate for Jordan’s parliamentary elections a question rarely asked. “Are you in favor of a constitutional change that will allow prime minister’s to be elected and would curtail the King’s power’s to dissolve the parliament?” asked Hamza Al Soud, Radio al Balad‘s parliamentary reporter.  Continue Reading »

Without any reason, the Israeli government has created a totally artificial problem for all future persons wishing to get citizenship: They will have to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Once again the Israelis are trying to push their internal problems and their hesitation to pay the needed price for peace onto others.

A cartoon in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth captured the strangeness of the latest Israeli obstacle to the peace process. The cartoon reprinted on a Palestinian web site shows secular Israeli intellectuals rejecting the idea of the Jewishness of Israel and at the same time depicts Orthodox Jewish leaders rejecting the same idea. In the cartoon, right-wing Israeli leader Avigdor Leiberman tries to convince a veiled Palestinian woman to make the pledge in return for giving her citizenship and she accepts. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 30^th, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

A US State Department spokesman told reporters this week that Washington was disappointed with Israel because of its failure to extend the settlement moratorium for as long as the peace talks were moving.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon used the same words to describe how the United Nations feels towards Israel. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, expressed the same sentiment vis-a-vis Israel’s decisions. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 23rd, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

Just when one thought that the direct peace talks might be able to produce a breakthrough, one got an awakening jolt.

Crossing the bridge over the Jordan River must be the world’s worst gift that keeps giving. This gift has been giving grief, anger, frustration and an overall realisation of what the occupation is all about. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 13th, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

The Associated Press takes pride in being the leading international news agency. The short headlines that appear on Yahoo home page are almost exclusively reserved to AP stories. But even the great AP makes mistakes. Sometimes its errors are not factual but a descriptive. The consequences are just as bad. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 7th, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

A Palestinian state is coming — it’s just not clear whether it will result from the current peace talks.

It is easy to be pessimistic, or even apathetic, about the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. History is a witness to the lack of Palestinian accomplishments in incremental negotiations. All successful efforts to date have stemmed from secret talks made public only once a package agreement was reached. Continue Reading »

(This was published in September 1st, 2010)

By Daoud Kuttab

There is a chance that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will soon end and an independent Palestinian state will emerge. The direct peace talks taking place in Washington is a necessary step towards that goal, but it is not the only option that Palestinians have.

Despite all the Palestinian opposition to the direct Palestinian-Israeli meet (with the settlement freeze about to expire) there is hope in many quarters. Before leaving to Washington Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said publicly that he would have gone to the peace talks even if the chances of success were no more than one percent. Continue Reading »

Under much international and Arab pressure, Palestinian leaders finally buckled and accepted to hold direct talks with Israel. Many Palestinians believe that the intended talks are nothing but a photo opportunity that aims to create the impression of a peace process while avoiding making any substantive commitments.

In a season when images represent the narrative, a political cartoon in the Jordanian newspaper a Al Ghad daily newspaper captured the Palestinian and Arab skepticism in the peace process. Emad Hajjaj captured the moment by repeating the Facebook image of the female Israeli soldier posing in front of a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinians by making the old man none other than the Palestinian leader Abbas sitting across the negotiating table across from a smiling Israeli female soldier that represents Israel. Continue Reading »

In a season when images represent the narrative, a political cartoon in a Jordanian newspaper captured the Palestinian and Arab mood as the US and its allies pile on the Palestinian leader Mahmood Abbas, pressing him to hold direct talks with Israel simply for the purpose of a photo opportunity. Emad Hajjaj captured the moment by repeating the Facebook image of the female Israeli soldier posing in front of a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinians by making the old man none other than the Palestinian leader Abbas sitting across the negotiating table across from a smiling Israeli representative.

Americans and Israelis might believe that direct talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders is the most obvious way to achieve peace in the Middle East conflict. But history has shown time and again that a high-profile peace process alone is no recipe for success. Continue Reading »