Archive for March, 2013

Mar 31 2013

Israel Offers Deportation To Samer Issawi

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

 

AlMonitor

 

By Daoud Kuttab

The case of the hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoner Samer Issawi has returned to the spotlight one of the most notorious human rights violations by an occupying power: deportation. Israel has offered Issawi deportation rather than outright release, despite not being able to charge him or try him for a specific crime or infraction.

The idea of deporting a person from his or her country runs contrary to the very essence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates the right of humans to leave their country and return without restrictions. For decades, Israel, which controls all the borders of Palestine, has been able to literally throw people across the hermetically sealed borders and prevent them from returning.

These deportations are based on the 112th clause of the mandate-era British Emergency Regulations (1945). The Israeli Knesset rescinded applying the regulations to Israel in 1979, but they remain intact for occupied Palestine, which is under Israeli military control. Continue Reading »

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Mar 31 2013

Palestinians in Jerusalem Skeptical of Arab Support

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

AlMonitor

 

By Daoud Kuttab

Before the Arab League summit ended its one-day deliberations Tuesday, Palestinians were already publicly skeptical about the effectiveness of Arabs in as far as their ability to do anything about Jerusalem.

Khalil Assali, a Jerusalemite, and one of the most consistent writers on Jerusalem, blasted Arab leaders for their repeated promises, but failures when it comes to the delivery of these promises. Assali’s latest column, which appeared on the Palestine News Network, Akhbar el-Balad radio and Ammannet online, recalled the many previous Arab summit promises on both the political and financial levels.

Assali says that of the $500 million pledged to Jerusalem in the Arab summit held in the Libyan town of Sirte in 2010, only $34 million made it to the Holy City. For Assali and his regular columns dedicated to Jerusalem, the problem is not about whether money reaches specific individuals as much as it is about institutions in Jerusalem that are deteriorating due to a lack of support. Continue Reading »

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Mar 29 2013

Anthony Lewis’ Column about me

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

In memory of the late Anthony Lewis of the New York Times. I reprint a column he wrote about me

Lese Arafat’s Majeste

By ANTHONY LEWIS

Published: May 26, 1997

Imagine an American President having the head of C-Span thrown in jail because he broadcast sessions of Congress in which the President was criticized. That is a rough translation of what has just happened in Yasir Arafat’s Palestine.

The victim of Mr. Arafat’s displeasure is Daoud Kuttab, a leading Palestinian journalist. He is being held incommunicado in a prison in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

I have known Mr. Kuttab for years, and like other foreign reporters and diplomats I respect him for his courage and honesty. The first concern has to be for his safety. Others imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority have been brutalized, and killed.

But the broader issue is the nature of the Palestinian polity. As President of the Authority, Mr. Arafat is intolerant of criticism and intemperate in his disregard for basic standards of freedom. His performance is blighting Palestinian hopes, and the Kuttab case is a telling example.

Mr. Kuttab has written unflinchingly about abuses of power by Israeli occupation authorities and by the new Palestinian regime. He was a columnist for Al Quds, an Arabic paper in Jerusalem, until the publisher gave in to an Arafat demand in 1994 and fired him. Last year the Committee to Protect Journalists gave him its International Press Freedom Award for his bravery.

He has been running a project very much like C-Span at an independent broadcasting station, Al Quds Educational Television. It carries live, uncut broadcasts of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The U.S. Agency for International Development provided a $25,000 pilot grant, and it has European support.

The Legislative Council, in its short life, has been remarkably independent of Mr. Arafat. Its members frequently criticize corruption in the Authority and abuses of human rights.

The Palestinian on the street could not read about that criticism because Palestinian newspapers were afraid to anger Mr. Arafat by printing it. When the verbatim broadcasts started, they attracted a wide audience. People watched through four hours of often prolix sessions.

Soon a curious thing happened. When Al Quds television broadcast a council session where Mr. Arafat was criticized, another signal covered the screen with a black rectangle.

The jamming came from the Authority’s official Palestinian Broadcasting Company. So Mr. Kuttab found when he was invited to check in the PBC control room. He was warned not to say anything.

Last Tuesday, May 21, The Washington Post carried a story about the jamming. That night Mr. Kuttab was telephoned by the Ramallah police chief, Col. Firas Ameleh, and asked to come in. He lives in Jerusalem, outside the control of the Authority, but he went anyway — and was arrested.

The next day Mr. Kuttab’s family tried to find out where he was. So did U.S. consular officers, who inquired because Mr. Kuttab is an American citizen. Colonel Ameleh and other Palestinian officials denied for hours that he was under arrest. Finally they admitted he was.

Mr. Kuttab’s lawyer and the U.S. Consul General, Edward Abington, were able to visit him on Wednesday. But the next day his wife and three children were turned away. Colonel Ameleh said he had orders from President Arafat’s office to let no one visit him. Mr. Kuttab started a hunger strike in protest.

On what charge was he held? After two days of silence, officials said he would be charged with violating the ”journalism law.” No one is sure what that means.

The whole affair, with its arbitrariness and mendacity, reeks of the view that it is lese majeste to challenge Yasir Arafat. Palestinians deserve better than that. They want democracy. The Legislative Council’s spirited criticism of corruption shows that, and so does the public response to Mr. Kuttab’s legislative broadcasts.

But more is at stake. Such action costs Mr. Arafat dearly in the respect he needs to negotiate a viable Palestinian homeland — respect in the world, and in Israel. It is essential for him, as for Palestinian hopes, to release Daoud Kuttab.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/26/opinion/lese-arafat-s-majeste.html

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Mar 28 2013

The Obama Gamble

By Daoud Kuttab

My column in the NY Times Room for Debate

Without Addressing Settlements, There’s Little Hope

A charitable view of the Obama charm offensive in Israel requires that we assume the president is rewarding the Israeli occupiers in hopes they will somehow agree to do what is right.

In answering a question from Chuck Todd of NBC, the president conceded that he was unable to do what he wanted in the peace process in his first term but blamed his failure on the sheer difficulty of the problems. The truth is that the failure was because of domestic political pressures that have crippled his ability to conduct a fair and just foreign policy, especially in regard to Israel.

In his second term, electoral pressure is greatly reduced, but Obama has surprisingly continued to avoid confrontation. Instead he has elected to reward Israel’s stubborn refusal to stop its actions regarding settlements; the Obama administration is feeding into Israel’s endless appetite for weaponry, and giving the nation a free hand in Iran, Gaza and elsewhere. Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

Palestinian Journalists Banned From Covering Obama Visit

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

 

By Daoud Kuttab

When it became clear that US President Barack Obama was to visit Ramallah and hold a press conference, local and foreign journalists quickly applied online for the special accreditation created for the event. More than 250 foreign and 140 Palestinian journalists were accredited. On the eve of the visit, however, 18 Palestinian journalists received a phone call from a member of Palestinian Preventative Security, an intelligence arm close to the CIA, telling them that they would not be allowed to enter the Muqata, the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency. The list included journalists working for international agencies who regularly cover events at the Muqata. Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

Point to raise during Obama’s visit

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

Following appeared in The Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

Why can’t Palestinians travel between West Bank and Gaza?

The question should be asked now as everyone is preparing for US President Barack Obama’s visit to the region.

During a visit to Gaza, I was surprised by the number of Palestinians I met, who were in their 20s and 30s, who have never been to the West Bank, including to Jerusalem.

Nearly three million Palestinians in the West Bank are prevented from travelling to Gaza (except through Jordan, Egypt and then try crossing at Rafah) and 1.5 million Gazan Palestinians are not able to travel to the West Bank using any border. This is not a travel ban against certain people who are a security threat. Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

Broadcasters get push in Cairo

Published by under Articles,Media Activism

Following appeared in The Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

Maghdis was living in the US when the Qadhafi regime fell in Libya. A linguist by profession, Maghdis had established an NGO to help his community of Imazighen.

Muammar Qadhafi had banned his people from using their language. With Qadhafi gone, Maghdis decided to return to the white mountains south of Tripoli to establish a local community radio station that will broadcast in the ethnic Imazighen language.

In the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the Sakkafs have been putting out a quality English language newspaper, The Yemen Times. Then the revolution provided a unique opportunity. The children of the late Abdel Aziz Sakkaf, whose exposés on torture in Yemen is suspected to have got him killed — the incident is still unresolved — wanted to start an independent Arabic language radio station. Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

Nuclear energy debate absent

Published by under Articles,Jordan

Following appeared in The Jordan Times

by Daoud Kuttab

One of the most important decisions regarding the future of Jordan is being taken with most of the country in total darkness.

The Washington Post reported last week that within the next month, the Jordanian government will decide which of two consortiums will be building Jordan’s and the Arab region’s first totally independent nuclear plant. Ever since the 16th Parliament voted against the establishment of a nuclear plant in the country, the public has been passive about the issue.

A Google search as well as a search in the widest selling Arabic newspaper, Al Rai, failed to reveal any discussions or statements in 2013 by the head of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), Khaled Toukan. The only exception was a meeting he had with Hamzah Mansour, of the Islamic Action Front, reported only on a local news website. Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

The Obama factor

Following appeared in the Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

The visit of US President Barack Obama to the Middle East is a welcome step. It has elevated interest in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict at a time when other regional issues have taken over regional and world interest.

Having the presidential office interested in this conflict needs a totally different approach to the conflict. Without the presidential involvement, the powerful Israelis have no problem in oppressing the people under their occupation. And perhaps Israelis, who get away with murder when dealing independently with the Palestinians, might find themselves embarrassed when a US president looks over their shoulders.

In general, therefore, the Obama factor is a potentially good thing for peace. The problem is how to make this factor last. How to create mechanisms that will continue to work even when a US president or his secretary of state are not around?  Continue Reading »

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Mar 28 2013

Helping Jerusalem

Published by under Articles,Palestinian politics

Following appeared in The Jordan Times

By Daoud Kuttab

The issue of Jerusalem has always been a hot topic at Arab summits. If there were a Guinness Book record for the number of times the city of Jerusalem was mentioned at these meetings — not of the actual support, however — this would probably be a winner.

The Arab summit, which ended in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday, vowed to support Palestinians in Jerusalem with a $1 billion special fund. The oil-rich Qatari emirate donated $250 million towards this fund, which reportedly will be collected through the Islamic Development Bank.

A quick reading of the comments of Jerusalemites reflects a high degree of scepticism that such promises will ever be carried on or that, if paid, they will actually reach their intended goals. Continue Reading »

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