Mar
26
2007
The following appeared in the Washington Post
Obstacle or Opportunity?
How the Palestinian Unity Government Offers a Path to Peace
By Daoud Kuttab
Monday, March 26, 2007; A15
When Henry Kissinger coined the term “constructive ambiguity” during his attempts to negotiate Arab-Israeli peace, he couldn’t have expected that one day Palestinians would use it in their own peace initiative. The ambiguity in the agenda of the new Palestinian “unity government” depends on whether one sees the cup as half full or half empty. If Israel and the United States want to move forward on the peace process, the cup is half full. But if there is no real will to pay the price for peace, the cup is half empty. Continue Reading »
Feb
23
2007
Daoud Kuttab
It is pleasant yet sad to see the Israelis and the Americans squirming. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has flip-flopped from opposing the Mecca agreement to stating that his government neither supports nor opposes the accord, to his latest attempts to bypass US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by going to her boss to insist on the boycott of the yet to be established national unity government.
The Mecca agreement represents a clear shift in the Islamic Hamas movement from the Iranian-Syria axis to the Saudi side. In response, the head of the US diplomacy is complaining that this agreement complicates things.
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Feb
16
2007
by Daoud Kuttab
The reconciliation between the leaders of the two major Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, which was negotiated in Saudi Arabia last week, is being hailed as a major political breakthrough. But the national unity government created as a result of this agreement faces many daunting challenges. Continue Reading »
Feb
12
2007
By Daoud Kuttab
If Israeli officials felt that the protest against work near Al-Aksa mosque was a local problem that would soon go away, they were not watching Lebanese television.
Some might think that the Arab world’s most popular TV program, Star Academy, is all about singing youth and half-dressed presenters. But on Friday, February 9, the students at Star Academy joined together in singing the song of Lebanese superstar Fairuz about Jerusalem. Continue Reading »
Feb
09
2007
Daoud Kuttab
Ever since the outbreak of the internal Palestinian fighting that has resulted in the death and injury of hundreds, two different points of view have surfaced. One simply put this shameful action at the front steps of the Palestinians. Those who think this way insist that there is no way one can blame the Israelis for this and that Palestinians are in need of inner reflection and stop blaming others for their fate.
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Feb
02
2007
by Daoud Kuttab
(Thursday February 01 2007)
It seems to happen about every ten years. The cycle of serious US interest in moving the Arab-Israeli conflict seems to take a high profile role always in the second half of the second and final term of the US president. Continue Reading »
Jan
10
2007
Daoud Kuttab, THE JERUSALEM POST Â Â Â Â Â Jan. 9, 2007
It caught many by surprise. The hanging of Saddam Hussein was expected to end an era of tyranny. For years the atrocities of the Saddam Hussein regime were flashed on television screens, spouted by politicians and, lately, displayed in the hastily-established Iraqi courts. Continue Reading »
Dec
26
2006
The following appeared in the Jerusalem Post.
By Daoud Kuttab
After the collapse of the bilateral and unilateral efforts, the time has come for multilateralism. Palestinian-Israeli bilateral talks saw a high point in the Oslo process, but have stalled ever since. Israel´s unilateralism, both in south Lebanon and Gaza, has also been a major failure. Continue Reading »
Dec
22
2006
By Daoud Kuttab
The biggest losers in the current political stalemate in Palestine have been the civil servants. Their total number is a bit over 150,000. The actual civil servants are 73,000 and those on the security payroll from the various apparatuses are said to be 85,000. Add to this number those who are retired and the families of the prisoners and martyrs, and you get possibly up to 175,000 Palestinians who have not been paid since February 2006, when the present Haniyeh government was elected.
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Dec
05
2006
by Daoud Kuttab
Three conditions must obtain for ceasefire agreements to work. They need to be mutual, supervised by a neutral party and supported by continuous political negotiations. Only the first condition seems to have been met this time around, and for the fire to cease we need to work on the remaining two conditions.
Although nothing has been signed by the conflicting parties, the condition of mutuality seems to have been fulfilled by an Israeli willingness to be involved in what amounts to an understanding rather than an agreement. As such, this ceasefire seems closer to the understandings reached in Lebanon or with the Syrians that have worked even though they were not put on paper by the parties to the conflict. It therefore bodes well that we seem to have overcome the initial hurdle that has been delaying movement on this front.
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