Category: Palestinian politics

By Daoud Kuttab Closed-circuit cameras have always been part of Israel’s high-tech approach to security, but in recent months, the presence of cameras and Palestinians’ use of cell phones have come back to haunt the Israeli security establishment. A security camera perched on top of the store owned by Hussein Abu Khdeir provided key evidence in the…

By Daoud Kuttab The Rev. Atallah Issawi, pastor of a Protestant church in the West Bank village of Aboud, and his wife, Hilda, were driving home the night of July 5 after attending a wedding in Ramallah. Issawi’s church, along with an excellent private school in their predominantly Christian village, had been established by missionaries from the…

By Daoud Kuttab The Palestinian film director had no idea that her production was a security threat. Emtiaz al-Moghrabi had produced a film — “Noor” (Light) — about the problem of drug abuse among the youth of East Jerusalem. The documentary, which was screened in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities, was to be shown in…

By Daoud Kuttab Twelve days of constant media coverage, often 24-hour live reporting and repeated accusations from the very top of the Israeli government of the involvement of Hamas in the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli youths, have reached the level of hysteria. The Israeli army, well-armed Jewish settlers and even members of the press have taken…

By Daoud Kuttab Sixty-three days after they declared an open-ended hunger strike, some 75 Palestinian administrative detainees announced on June 25 that they have suspended their hunger strike. Few details have emerged, but the Palestinian prisoners succeeded in exposing the injustice of administrative detention without putting a stop to this undemocratic practice. No written agreement has been signed, a point Israel…

By Daoud Kuttab The kidnapping of three Israeli religious settlers in an area under the total administrative and security control of the Israeli army has partially brought back attention to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but for the wrong reasons. While it is natural that the phone calls by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime…

By Daoud Kuttab The Israeli reaction to the disappearance, and most probable kidnapping, of three Israeli settlers reveals once again a worn-out, failed deterrence policy that inflicts great pain and suffering by Israel on its supposed long-term neighbors. Article 33 of the Geneva Convention (IV) specifically bans “collective punishment” by an occupying power to the people…

By Daoud Kuttab As the kidnapping disappearance of three young Israeli settlers enters its first week without any trace of them, politics, repercussions and reactions have begun to take center stage. How will it affect the nearly dead peace process? How will it affect the internal debate in Israel? How will it influence Palestinian politics…

By Daoud Kuttab Seif Abu Arqoub, 5, was born in Amman while his parents were students at the University of Jordan. Upon completion of their degrees, the Arqoub family returned to Nablus, the hometown of Abla, Seif’s mother. Abla teaches at Al-Najah University in Nablus and Mohammed, Seif’s father, is a lecturer at Birzeit University. Except for short visits to his…

By Daoud Kuttab A courageous Palestinian hunger strike is nearing its 50th day, yet it has barely made a dent on the local, regional or international scene. Palestinian administrative detainees — those being held without charge or trial — are with their stomachs fighting an unjust practice carried out by a country that claims to be a democracy,…