Daoud Kuttab
Daoud Kuttab is General Manager, Community Media Network, Amman, and a former Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.
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2011-09-19
| Palestinians’ desire to obtain a UN vote on statehood (in whatever form) does not mean that they cannot have direct negotiations with Israel. If the UN vote succeeds, however, it will not be a people talking with their occupiers, but two states negotiating about how to manage their relations in peace and harmony.... read |
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2011-04-08
| Without much fanfare, the past few months have seen no anti-American demonstrations and no burning of American flags across the Arab world. Arabs seem increasingly willing to accept – and even applaud – the Obama administration’s policy toward the region.... read |
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2011-01-05
| The US should stop pushing for the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Doing so might be the best way to achieve peace – a paradox that reflects the huge gap between a peace process and achieving genuine peace.... read |
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2010-08-11
| Direct talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders are the most obvious way to achieve peace in the Middle East conflict. But history has shown time and again that a high-profile peace process alone is no recipe for success.... read |
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2010-05-05
| A breakthrough appears to be at hand in the Middle East conflict, but it is hard to say why, exactly. Although all the parties still seem to be clinging to their traditional positions, the peace process is again moving into what Henry Kissinger called the realm of "constructive ambiguity." ... read |
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2010-03-11
| The indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks now being launched are unlikely to produce any tangible result on the borders of the Palestinian state. Nevertheless, for both sides, the process can be as important as the results.... read |
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2009-11-18
| President Mahmoud Abbas’s withdrawal from the Palestinian Authority's presidential election scheduled for January 24, 2010, has produced no political scramble to pick a successor. The reason is simple: the PA presidency has become irrelevant.... read |
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2009-09-08
| Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to approve new Jewish settlements on the eve of a possible settlement freeze is the latest round in a cycle that has been repeated so often that it would seem mundane were it not so dangerous. Unless and until Israel pays a heavy price for its illegal activities in the occupied territories, a successful peace process is hard to imagine.... read |
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2009-08-14
| Fatah, the leading guerrilla movement within the Palestine Liberation Organization, has a long way to go before it becomes a full-fledged political party. Nevertheless, the conclusion of the Sixth Fatah Congress reflects a clear bias in favor of such a path rather than returning to an underground existence as an armed resistance movement.... read |
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Netanyahu’s Choice
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Daoud Kuttab 
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The only question that Barack Obama should ask Netanyahu at their upcoming summit is, When will Israel quit the occupied Palestinian territories? Attempts at obfuscation – whether by talking about an “economic peace,” or insisting that Arabs recognize the Jewishness of the state of Israel – should not be allowed to derail the goal of ending the inadmissible occupation.... read
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2003-09-12
| The new Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, faces daunting challenges. He must tread between the shrapnel shards of constant Israeli military actions against the Palestinians, the ambivalence of the US about the road map, and a plethora of militant Palestinian groups seeking revenge for every one of their assassinated leaders. This sickening cycle of violence is all too predictable. It need not be inevitable. ... read |
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2004-08-03
| No one is indifferent to Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based Arab satellite television station. You can practically see the blood of US officials boil when they discuss it. To be sure, in the context of the dream of all Arabs being united and independent of foreign control, Al Jazeera is undeniably partial to Arab aspirations. But that does not make its news reporting untruthful. ... read |
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2006-03-16
| As it struggles to form a government for the Palestinian territories, Hamas seems to be clutching to the Biblical verses in Ecclesiasties rather than the desires of the Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations) charged with trying to bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven,” fits Hamas’s current agenda because its priorities and time frame are different from those of the international community, which is pressing it to make immediate political declarations, most importantly, to recognize Israel’s right to exist.... read |
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2006-01-10
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2004-11-10
| To understand what the Palestinian cause will look like without Yasir Arafat, consider the various titles that he currently holds. Arafat is Chairman of the PLO executive Committee, President of the Palestinian National Authority, Commander-in-chief of the Palestinian forces, and head of the Fatah movement. ... read |
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2006-08-14
| Wars are won not only on battlefields, but also in people’s minds. So, while Hezbollah has not decisively won its current war with Israel, by maintaining its ability to fight in the face of the might of the Israeli army, it has captured the imagination of Arabs, restoring lost pride in the same way as the Egyptian Army’s crossing of the Suez Canal in the war of 1973 did. Restored pride was central to Anwar Sadat’s eventual decision to go to Jerusalem and regain the entire Sinai Peninsula for Egypt. ... read |
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2005-01-07
| NOT TO BE PUBLISHED BEFORE JANUARY 10 ... read |
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2006-11-10
| When it first appeared, the new satellite channel broadcast from Qatar reflected its own name. Al Jazeera – Arabic for “the island” – represented a haven of professional, independent, current affairs programming in a sea of one-sided, government-controlled Arab media. Until Al Jazeera’s mostly BBC-trained journalists arrived on the scene, the average Arab citizen’s news television diet was nothing more than protocol news, wire service video reflecting the latest in the Palestinian conflict, and dramatic photos of earthquakes or wild fires. ... read |
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2005-08-16
| The withdrawal of Israeli troops and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza, after 38 years of occupation, is the most recent proof of the limits of military power, even when that power is overwhelming. Now is the time to take stock of the lessons learned from the years of occupation and resistance in order to understand what Israelis and Palestinians should do next.... read |
2009-11-18