AMMAN: Palestinian reconciliation took a major step forward recently following an agreement that included President Mahmoud Abbas taking on the additional position of prime minister.
The Doha Agreement between leader of the Hamas political (...)
RAMALLAH: The idea of Palestine becoming a permanent member of the United Nations originated, say Palestinians, with none other than US President Barack Obama. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010, Obama said that he hoped that (...)
AMMAN: 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 (...)
RAMALLAH: The United States 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 (...)
AMMAN, Jordan: A Palestinian state is coming – it is just not clear whether it will result from the current peace talks.
It is easy to be pessimistic, or even apathetic, about the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. History is a (...)
AMMAN: A Palestinian state is coming – it is just not clear whether it will result from the current peace talks.
It is easy to be pessimistic, or even apathetic, about the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. History is a witness to (...)
RAMALLAH: 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.
The Arab (...)
AMMAN: Once again the summer heat is upon us. And once again, people's anguish, and appeals at the overcrowded King Hussein Bridge are melting as quickly as an ice cream cone in the Jordan Valley's high temperatures.
The King Hussein Bridge is (...)
AMMAN: Once again the summer heat is upon us. And once again, people's anguish, and appeals at the overcrowded King Hussein Bridge are melting as quickly as an ice cream cone in the Jordan Valley's high temperatures.
The King Hussein Bridge is (...)
RAMALLAH: Something is happening with the Middle East conflict, but it is hard to say what. A breakthrough appears to be at hand, though all the parties still seem to be clinging to their traditional positions. The Arab League gave the go-ahead to (...)
For all the theatrics and histrionics within the Arab League s Cairo headquarters, Arab governments are unlikely to have any influence on Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
Like all regional organizations, the League of Arab States is inefficient (...)
RAMALLAH: Palestinians and Israelis have different and possibly contradictory expectations from the indirect negotiations that the United States has pushed both sides into beginning.
Israel was among the first parties to welcome the Arab League's (...)
RAMALLAH: Television penetration in Palestine is nearly 100 percent. Almost every home—no matter how poor the family—has a tube in its sitting room. Television viewership is higher than average amongst Palestinians for two main reasons: Because (...)
RAMALLAH - Television penetration in Palestine is nearly 100 percent. Almost every home - no matter how poor the family-has a tube in its sitting room. Television viewership is higher than average amongst Palestinians for two main reasons: Because (...)
RAMALLAH: A political leader's decision not to seek re-election usually triggers fervent discussion about potential heirs. Yet, President Mahmoud Abbas's withdrawal from the presidential election scheduled for Jan. 24, 2010, has produced nothing of (...)
AMMAN: When the PLO leadership was in exile, Yasser Arafat would often stress the "independent Palestinian decision . His statements about independence had nothing to do with Israel; those who were able to decipher these words knew that Arafat was (...)
AMMAN: There are so many ways in which the plan by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for the de facto creation of a Palestinian state can be seen as a brilliant idea that it is hard to ignore or oppose it.
Fayyad's blueprint includes plans (...)
AMMAN: Palestinian nationalism has been a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, one cannot underestimate the important role it played in pulling together the Arab people of Palestine under a unified and clear national goal. But at a time when (...)
RAMALLAH: Israeli Prime Minister 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 many times over the past 40 years that it would seem (...)
AMMAN: I had to rub my eyes a few times to be sure that what I was seeing was real. The setting: downtown Ramallah. The event: International Youth Day. The participants were wearing white T-shirts with logos on the front and back, and red (...)
RAMALLAH: Fatah, the leading guerrilla movement within the Palestine Liberation Organization, has moved one step closer to becoming a normal political party. Its just concluded sixth congress was held for the first time in the occupied territories, (...)
AMMAN: The main conclusion emerging from the Obama-Abbas meeting last week is that the United States continues to be dead serious about its demand that Israel immediately freeze all settlement activities. Considering all the hot button topics, some (...)
RAMALLAH: As the summit between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether or not the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state (...)
War and violence always have a direct effect on elections. Wars account for dramatic shifts in voter preferences, and radical leaders and parties often poll much higher after a round of sharp violence than in normal times.
Minority ethnic groups (...)
AMMAN: I must say I wasn't surprised when I read the statements made by outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I had been informed by an Israeli friend of mine about Olmert's dramatic conversion over (...)