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May 04, 2024
 

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Daoud Kuttab
For Daoud Kuttab's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2011
Middle East peace, not process
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 peace.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2010
Peace process vs. real peace
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.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2010
Middle East peace by any means available
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Something is happening with the Middle East conflict. A breakthrough appears at hand, though all the parties still seem to be clinging to their traditional positions.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2010
An indirect solution for a Palestinian state?
RAMALLAH — Palestinians and Israelis have different and possibly contradictory expectations from the indirect negotiations that the United States has pushed both sides into beginning.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2009
Where goes Palestine as Abbas withdraws?
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A political leader's decision not to seek re-election usually triggers fervent discussion about potential heirs. Yet, President Mahmoud Abbas' withdrawal from the Jan. 24 presidential election has produced nothing of the kind in Palestine — not because of a reluctance to mention possible successors, but because the presidency of the Palestinian Authority has become irrelevant.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2009
'Settlement freeze' a running joke in Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank — 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 mundane if it were not so dangerous.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2009
Obama's question for Netanyahu
RAMALLAH, West Bank — As the summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state solution.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2009
Israel votes for firmer hand with Palestinians
PRINCETON, N.J. — 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 are therefore often able to sway the balance of power between major competing forces.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2008
Deterrence fails in a prison with no key
PRINCETON, New Jersey — Every day in the Gaza Strip, strategic deterrence — the inhibition of attack by fear of punishment from superior military power — is being put to the test. The escalating spiral of violence by Israel and Gazan militants indicates not only that deterrence is failing, but also that its effectiveness depends on adherence to fundamental standards of morality.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2008
Gaza's past holds lessons for the future
PRAGUE — When the Gaza Strip was plunged into darkness last week as a result of the Israeli fuel blockade, many people around the world were surprised. But the optimism produced by the Annapolis peace process, which included U.S. President George W. Bush's promise of an agreement in 2008 to create a Palestinian state, was clearly unrealistic.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2007
Palestinians need more than unity to heal
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The reconciliation between the leaders of the two major Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, that has just been negotiated in Saudi Arabia is being hailed as a major political breakthrough. But the national unity government created as a result of this agreement faces many daunting challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2006
Al-Jazeera media revolution turns 10
JERUSALEM -- From its first appearance, the new satellite channel broadcast from Qatar lived up to its 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.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2006
Limits of long-term arrogance revealed
JERUSALEM -- 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 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's eventual decision to go to Jerusalem and regain the entire Sinai Peninsula for Egypt.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2006
Hamas sets out to put first things first
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- As it struggles to form a government for the Palestinian territories, Hamas seems to be clutching the biblical verses of Ecclesiastes rather than the desires of the Quartet (United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations), which is charged with trying to bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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