Trump’s efforts to bolster the Palestinian economy in lieu of concrete political action are part of a long history of initiatives designed to forfeit Palestinian rights under the guise of “economic peace.”
In this policy lab, Al-Shabaka Policy Analysts Diana Buttu and Ibrahim Fraihat weigh in on the threats these initiatives pose for the Palestinian liberation struggle, as well as on the growing support for such approaches by Arab states.
Ibrahim Fraihat is Associate Professor of International Conflict Resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and a non-resident fellow at Deakin University’s Middle East Studies Forum in Australia. He previously served as Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution and taught conflict resolution at Georgetown University and George Washington University. His recent books include Conflict Mediation in the Arab World (Syracuse University Press, 2023), Rebel Governance in the Middle East (Palgrave, 2023), Iran and Saudi Arabia: Taming a Chaotic Conflict (Edinburgh University Press, 2020), and Unfinished Revolutions: Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia after the Arab Spring (Yale University Press, 2016). He holds a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University and is the recipient of that university’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2014).
Diana Buttu is a lawyer who previously served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and was part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of the Wall before the International Court of Justice. She frequently comments on Palestine for international news media outlets such as CNN and BBC; is a political analyst for Al Jazeera International and is a regular contributor to The Middle East magazine. She maintains a law practice in Palestine, focusing on international human rights law.
