Category: Palestinian politics

  By Daoud Kuttab The Dec. 16 entry on her Facebook was simple yet powerful: “Imagine if President [Mahmoud al-] Abbas would visit Gaza and take a look at his people there following the Alexa storm. Imagine how he will be received by Ismail Haniyeh. … People who have been drowning will certainly come out and welcome him.” The…

  By Daoud Kuttab A man was once labeled a terrorist and held in a South African prison. He and his people appealed to the world for an end to the apartheid regime ruling his country, but the world’s governments failed to respond. They appealed to the world’s citizenry and to private companies, asking them to divest from…

  By Daoud Kuttab The question to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was appropriate in time and place. At a news conference in Johannesburg where he was attending Nelson Mandela’s funeral, Abbas was asked about his position regarding the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. Abbas’ answer, while not surprising for…

  By Daoud Kuttab It might be a coincidence or hype from the Palestinian leadership. But a look at the narrative being weaved by the Palestinian leadership and one has no alternative but to think that the Americans and Europeans have joined the Israelis in trying to extract concessions from the Palestinians. The latest source…

  By Daoud Kuttab Mention of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) used to arouse fear and intimidation in Israel and around the world. The radical Palestinian organization founded in the late 1970s by George Habash, a Palestinian Christian physician from Lydda, became a household name after it carried out spectacular airline hijackings and other daring acts. On Dec….

  By Daoud Kuttab The passing away of the leader of the South African liberation movement, Nelson Mandela, at the age of 95 brings to the forefront historic and parallel comparisons between the African national movement led by the African National Congress (ANC) and that of Palestinians led by the Palestine Liberation Organization. For years, the…

  By Daoud Kuttab When US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the region this week, he is certain to find Palestinian expectations at an all-time low regarding any possible breakthrough in the peace talks with Israel. The dual resignations of Mohammad Shtayyeh and Saeb Erekat (who later rescinded his) reflect the Palestinians’ general lack of faith in the negotiations, but also their desire not to burn…

  By Daoud Kuttab A partial Palestinian teachers strike last weekend turned into a full strike on Monday, Dec. 2, with plans to hold a demonstration outside the prime minister’s office on Tuesday. The Palestinian government thought that it could avert the full strike when it won a decision by the Palestinian High Court of Justice calling on the Teachers Union to delay the strike until the government has a chance…

  By Daoud Kuttab As is often the case, the news concerning the circumstances of the Nov. 27 Israeli killings of three Palestinian men is being told from one side because the other side is unable to be respond or be heard. The undisputed facts are that members of the Israeli army stopped a vehicle carrying three Palestinian…

  by Daoud Kuttab As the Christmas season approaches and as tourism to the Holy Land rises, the fight over holy sites has also escalated. The Palestinian Ministry of Information published on its website a report citing an official complaint by the Palestinian ambassador in Rome, Mai al-Kalia, against Israel, which is trying to appropriate Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian ministry, the Israeli…