Category: Palestinian politics

The Palestinian president Yasser Arafat besieged by the Israelis in Ramallah since last December and imprisoned in his office since March 29 has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings that have killed innocent Israelis. It is time for the US president to condemn the latest Israeli indiscriminate violence against innocent Palestinians. Violent attacks against innocent civilians are…

As the world entered the 21 century with the goal of ending occupation, colonization and military rule, it is important to give these goals a practical application and not just lip service. Today these are the goals of the Palestinian people wishing to end the Israeli occupation of their land and to establish a free…

One of the more popular Palestinian songs asks travelers where they are going and the answer is Ramallah. This town, built on a hill north of Jerusalem, has always been known as a Palestinian resort. Married couples from various Arab countries used to spend their honeymoon in this city. As a child, I remember fondly…

Six-year old Nadeen Khayyat woke up in the middle of the night terrified. Clutching to her grandmother this Palestinian child was petrified that the Israelis will shell her home. I had been staying at the Khayyat home Tuesday night in the center of Ramallah. My house on the edge of Ramallah was deemed by all…

The elevator in the five-story, first-rate looking office building, in Ramallah was not operational on Wednesday. So instead, I took the stairs. And suddenly I discover one of the many secrets that make this surreal situation in this Palestinian town. Almost the entire staircase, rarely used by people, was littered with sleeping materials-blankets, foam mattresses-…

The Israeli prime minister is angry. He has called for an urgent press conference to complain about the latest action by the multinational observer force in Palestine and Israel. The Israeli complaint is focused on the fact that these forces did not allow Prime Minster Ariel Sharon to leave Jerusalem for Tel Aviv even though…

By Ilan Ziv and Daoud Kuttab* In 1993, following the signing of the Oslo accords, we collaborated on a joint Israeli-Palestinian documentary. By giving video cameras to three Palestinians and three Israelis, we set out to document the first year of the implementation of the ” peace process”. Our “Peace Diaries” unfortunately became a record…

Yasser Arafat interrupted two television programs in the past week to make a simple point. It is difficult to uphold a unilateral cease-fire. Speaking from a prepared text to the Palestinian people on the occasion of Eid al Fitr Arafat reiterated the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to a cease-fire. Arafat’s impromptu comments to his people in…

Ramallah – The unilateral cease-fire call by four armed Palestinian resistance groupings reflects the main contradiction of approaches between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority. Israel wants these organizations crushed while the Palestinian leader wants them coopted. Israel considers Hamas, Jihad, and recently, the Fatah Tanzim to be terrorist’s organizations. And in Israel’s eyes they…

The mission of retired general Anthony Zinni, the new U.S. peace envoy to the Middle East, became more difficult after the weekend’s bloody suicide bombings and retaliatory shootings between Israelis and Palestinians. But if someone is looking for reasons for this upsurge of violence — and for the way out of it — one needs…