As of 2023, Mahmoud Abbas surpasses his democratic mandate as President of the Palestinian Authority by 14 years. And as speculation mounts about his successor, the question of his legacy lingers. In a new Al-Shabaka roundtable, policy analysts Tareq Baconi, Yara Hawari, Alaa Tartir, and Tariq Kenney-Shawa reflect on Abbas’s impact on Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

While normalization deals between the Israeli and Arab regimes continue to spread and deepen, they have historical precedent across the region. In our latest commentary, Al-Shabaka’s senior analyst, Yara Hawari, situates contemporary normalization maneuvers in historical and geopolitical contexts, and describes the implications of these worrying policies on Palestinian liberation and the future of the region.

A new wave of repressive UK government policies aims to suppress protest and political expression, posing a direct threat to Palestine solidarity work. Al-Shabaka’s senior policy analyst, Yara Hawari, locates this latest crackdown within Britain’s enduring support for Zionism, and shows how only in broad, intersectional alliances can social justice activists effectively repel state-led repression.

Jerusalem is increasingly at the center of developments across colonized Palestine. Indeed, from forced expulsions to attacks on worshipers, the Israeli regime is determined to de-Palestinianize the city. In light of Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign and Palestinian Jerusalemites’ resistance to it, Al-Shabaka revisits the topic of Jerusalem with a new selection of publications from our analysts.

From the COVID-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement, events that have unfolded on the global stage have impacted our realities over the past two years. Today, the Palestinian struggle exists in a world of greater connectivity, one where movements for justice are transcending state structures and institutions, recognizing the pervasiveness and interconnectedness of…

Israeli and Palestinian policing and incarceration have devastated Palestinian society. How can Palestinian civil society adopt community accountability and transformative justice processes that move away from state institutions and punitive justice? Al-Shabaka’s senior analyst, Yara Hawari, explores this question and offers recommendations to Palestinian civil society and the international donor community for bringing about and supporting these crucial changes.

The frameworks of peace-building in Palestine and Ireland are profoundly problematic in the context of continued colonization. Over the last few years, western donors and policymakers have been reviving peace-building in Palestine through people-to-people projects.

Palestinian resistance to Israeli hegemony is transforming significantly. In this Focus On, Al-Shabaka’s policy analysts examine the trajectory of contemporary Palestinian resistance. They focus on ongoing challenges, including the censorship of anti-Zionist activists, and the persecution of Palestinians by Palestinian security forces. They emphasize which actors and tactics should be harnessed as the resistance continues to grow and confront oppression.

The latest Palestinian uprising against Israeli settler-colonial rule has been dubbed the “Unity Intifada.” It has brought Palestinians across colonized Palestine in unprecedented national unity around a shared struggle for liberation from ethnic cleansing, fragmentation, and settler colonization. Al-Shabaka’s Senior Analyst, Yara Hawari, examines the historical and contemporary implications of the Unity Intifada, and offers critical insight into how we must understand this unity.  

People-to-People (P2P) funded-projects are being revived in the US and Europe, threatening to undermine international law and Palestinians’ rights. Al-Shabaka’s Senior Analyst, Yara Hawari, examines the troubling implications of P2P initiatives and offers recommendations for how policymakers can counter them in order to bring about a just peace that holds Israel accountable for its violations of Palestinians’ rights.