From 3 to 5 April 2026, hundreds of people from every continent came together at HM Istanbul 2026. Convened at Istanbul Bilgi University, Santral Campus, the conference took place under the theme “From Catastrophe to Struggle: Rethinking Capitalism amid Wars and Disasters.” Across 127 panels and with 456 speakers, the conference brought into dialogue a wide range of struggles, experiences, and critical perspectives on war, ecology, authoritarianism, class, gender, race, social reproduction, and resistance.
At the conference, Al-Shabaka Co-Director Yara Hawari presented, "The Gaza Genocide in Western Media: Culprits of Complicity," on a panel titled, "Mapping Hegemony, Counterhegemony, and Emergent Spaces of Decolonial Praxis in/on Palestine in a time of Settler Colonial Domination and Genocidal War."
Featured Speaker
Yara Hawari is Al-Shabaka’s co-director. She previously served as the Palestine policy fellow and senior analyst. Yara completed her PhD in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, where she taught various undergraduate courses and continues to be an honorary research fellow. In addition to her academic work, which focused on indigenous studies and oral history, she is a frequent political commentator writing for various media outlets including The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and Al Jazeera English.
