Analysis & Articles
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This commentary examines the evolving ties between MENA countries and BRICS, focusing on the prospective Palestinian membership in the bloc and the group’s rationale for extending the invitation. It argues that BRICS membership can reconfigure the discussion around Palestinian sovereignty beyond the bounds of US alignment with Israeli policies. As the commentary details, BRICS membership could also greatly benefit the Palestinian economy by bolstering cooperation among members in areas driving economic development, including the energy and logistics sectors and artificial intelligence.
In this policy lab, Dena Qaddumi and Jehad Abusalim join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss what the ceasefire in Gaza means for Palestinians and the state of the physical and political landscape that determines what comes next.
This policy brief revisits polling and election data to demonstrate the effect of the Democratic Party’s unflinching support for the Israeli regime on demobilizing voters in a presidential race taking place in the midst of a genocide—highlighting the need for a shift in US foreign policy. It emphasizes the importance of Palestine solidarity advocacy in countering the alarming global phenomenon of democratic backsliding, especially in the US. It calls for honest data collection and reporting at a time when critical action against authoritarian US policies is likely to face increasing repression under the current administration of US President Donald Trump—with anti-Palestinian repression serving as a template.
At the time of publication, the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government was underway. The deal comes after Palestinians in Gaza endured a devastating 15-month-long genocidal war that claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured many more. Israel’s intense shelling of Gaza has had a catastrophic effect on its infrastructure, including the telecommunications network, forcing the population into a near-total internet and cellular blackout.
This policy brief examines the devastating impact of the Israeli regime’s actions on Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure and internet access. It situates Israel's attack on the communications sector within the broader framework of neo-colonialism. It explains how Israel’s stranglehold on the Palestinian digital infrastructure strengthens its political and economic hegemony, which is one of the most important features of the Zionist settler colonial project. It also highlights the resilience of Palestinians resisting enforced communication blackouts. It finally offers actionable recommendations for the international community to support enhanced digital access in Gaza and break its technological dependence on Israel.
This commentary examines the evolving ties between MENA countries and BRICS, focusing on the prospective Palestinian membership in the bloc and the group’s rationale for extending the invitation. It argues that BRICS membership can reconfigure the discussion around Palestinian sovereignty beyond the bounds of US alignment with Israeli policies. As the commentary details, BRICS membership could also greatly benefit the Palestinian economy by bolstering cooperation among members in areas driving economic development, including the energy and logistics sectors and artificial intelligence.
In this policy lab, Dena Qaddumi and Jehad Abusalim join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss what the ceasefire in Gaza means for Palestinians and the state of the physical and political landscape that determines what comes next.
This policy brief revisits polling and election data to demonstrate the effect of the Democratic Party’s unflinching support for the Israeli regime on demobilizing voters in a presidential race taking place in the midst of a genocide—highlighting the need for a shift in US foreign policy. It emphasizes the importance of Palestine solidarity advocacy in countering the alarming global phenomenon of democratic backsliding, especially in the US. It calls for honest data collection and reporting at a time when critical action against authoritarian US policies is likely to face increasing repression under the current administration of US President Donald Trump—with anti-Palestinian repression serving as a template.
At the time of publication, the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government was underway. The deal comes after Palestinians in Gaza endured a devastating 15-month-long genocidal war that claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured many more. Israel’s intense shelling of Gaza has had a catastrophic effect on its infrastructure, including the telecommunications network, forcing the population into a near-total internet and cellular blackout.
This policy brief examines the devastating impact of the Israeli regime’s actions on Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure and internet access. It situates Israel's attack on the communications sector within the broader framework of neo-colonialism. It explains how Israel’s stranglehold on the Palestinian digital infrastructure strengthens its political and economic hegemony, which is one of the most important features of the Zionist settler colonial project. It also highlights the resilience of Palestinians resisting enforced communication blackouts. It finally offers actionable recommendations for the international community to support enhanced digital access in Gaza and break its technological dependence on Israel.
On January 15, 2025, Qatar announced a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli regime and Hamas. The long-awaited deal, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, promised an end to 15 months of genocidal assault on Gaza, during which Israeli forces killed at least 64,260 Palestinians and reduced much of the strip to rubble.
While the implementation of the ceasefire offers critical relief for Palestinians in Gaza who have been enduring and resisting genocide, skepticism remains over the feasibility of its full implementation. In this roundtable, Al Shabaka analysts Shatha Abdulsamad, Basil Farraj, Talal Abu Rokbeh, and Diana Buttu weigh in on the different aspects of the ceasefire deal and what they mean in the broader context of Israeli settler colonial occupation of Palestine.
Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, Palestinian laborers working in the Israeli market have become a top target for Israel's brutal Civil and Economic Affairs Cabinet and the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. During this time, the Zionist regime terminated over 140,000 work permits, detained thousands of Palestinian workers, and began formal discussions with various Asian governments to recruit foreign laborers as replacements.
In this policy brief, Ihab Maharmeh details a recurring pattern in which Israel summons, exploits, expels, or replaces the Palestinian workforce based on its needs. This calculated approach, Maharmeh argues, is designed to systematically dismantle Palestinian political, economic, and social structures, ultimately advancing the goal of Palestinian erasure.
Al-Shabaka Board President Tareq Baconi reflects on over 12 months of genocide in Gaza and discusses its ramifications on the Palestinian liberation movement, the region, and beyond. In doing so, he highlights the façade of the international rules-based order and centers the growing power of the global majority.
In this policy lab, Halah Ahmad and Andrew Kadi join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss what the incoming Trump Administration will mean for Palestinians, how it will affect the pro-Palestine solidarity movement in the US, and how to prepare for it.
Israel’s withholding of Palestinian clearance revenues is a longstanding practice, historically used to punish or manipulate the Palestinian Authority (PA). Since October 2023, the Israeli regime has only escalated its theft of Palestinian funds, bringing the PA to the verge of financial collapse. This policy memo argues that Israel’s weaponization of clearance revenues is not merely an extension of past measures but a reflection of a new, more radical agenda driven by the far-right.
On November 5, 2024, the US electorate voted Donald J. Trump for a second term in the 60th presidential election. While many aspects of the incoming administration's foreign policy plans remain uncertain, they will undoubtedly continue to have devastating consequences for the Palestinian people.
In this roundtable, Al-Shabaka analysts Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Abdullah Al-Arian, Andrew Kadi, and Hanna Alshaikh offer insights into how Trump will compare to his predecessor, what his presidency will mean for US policy across the Arab region, what lies ahead for Palestine solidarity organizing in the US, and the material impact will be on the ground in Palestine.
Media & Outreach
On this episode of On the Nose, Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane spoke to Mouin Rabbani, a co-editor of Jadaliyya, and Tariq Kenney-Shawa, US policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, about situating this moment in the long history of Palestinians displacement, whether and how a Trump ethnic cleansing plan is likely to unfold, and how it will impact the ceasefire in Gaza.
By sending weapons to Israel while halting arms sales to Ukraine, Trump backs nations that are “occupying a less powerful people.”
Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza wouldn't be accepted across the Middle East and could lead to uprisings or coups, argues Toufic Haddad.
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