Samar Batrawi is a writer, editor and policy analyst. She is interested in identity politics and social movements, specifically those that interact with the question of Palestine. She has a PhD in Critical Security Studies from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She has previously worked for the Clingendael Institute in The Hague and King’s College London. Her work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Middle East Eye, Guernica, and Fikra Magazine.
From this author
With so much to tackle in the struggle for Palestinian rights, some question why time and energy should be invested in developing the Palestinian narrative and discourse. Al-Shabaka analyst Amjad Iraqi argues that a unified narrative and discourse is essential to the struggle’s success and outlines its key elements and strategic potential.
The Palestinian experience in the Syrian war has been one of violence, misery, and double exile, and is a story in its own right. Yet it has also brought into high relief a fundamental dilemma affecting the Palestinians of Syria, namely that of being forced to maintain political neutrality, given their vulnerable position, or to support the regime, despite its direct role in their suffering.
How and why ISIS talks about Palestine are questions that should matter to Palestinians, especially since ISIS has been active in framing the new upheavals in Palestine of the past months in its propaganda and applauding stabbing attacks as part of its Salafi-jihadi creed.
