Tourism in Service of Occupation and Annexation

Tourism has been critical to the Zionist enterprise since the first Zionists settled in Palestine. Al-Shabaka policy analyst Halah Ahmad explores the role of tourism, and especially religious tourism, in propagating the Zionist and Israeli-state narratives, focusing on the damaging impacts of Israeli settlement tourism in illegally occupied Palestinian land. She offers recommendations for ethical tourism that promotes Palestinian rights to self-determination. 

Reports that Israel is compiling lists of officials who might be arrested during travel abroad if the International Criminal Court decides to investigate war crimes in Palestine highlight the power and potential of the Court. Al-Shabaka policy analysts Dana Farraj and Asem Khalil discuss three key indicators that support the strong possibility of ICC intervention against alleged war criminals.

At a time of paralysis due to the pandemic and multiple Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, it is more urgent than ever for the Palestinian people to move beyond the sterile vision of a “feasible” future. Al-Shabaka Senior Policy Fellow Yara Hawari reviews efforts to break through imposed limits and envision a revolutionary consensus.

The practice of mapping in Palestine-Israel has long been an exercise in power, imperialism, and dispossession. Al-Shabaka Policy Analyst Zena Agha examines how Palestinians have been excluded from maps of their own land from the British Mandate to today, and explores ways that Palestinians can – and do – reclaim maps as a means of resistance. 

Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Israeli Security Agency has been torturing Palestinians. Al-Shabaka Senior Palestine Policy Fellow Yara Hawari argues that the use of torture in Israeli detention is systematic and legitimized through domestic law, and outlines steps for the international community to hold Israel to account and bring an end to these violations. 

While Palestinian women have always faced political marginalization, developments since the Oslo Accords have caused them to endure perhaps even more formidable challenges when it comes to political participation. Al-Shabaka Palestine Policy Fellow Yara Hawari outlines these challenges and recommends ways for Palestinian women and society to disrupt this process and revitalize the Palestinian liberation struggle through feminism. 

For decades, political barriers have obstructed the Palestinian health system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, impeding rights and protections. Al-Shabaka Policy Analyst Yara Asi examines how the Israeli occupation has decreased Palestinians’ ability to seek or practice health care, and offers recommendations that can support Palestinians’ right to health within the current constrained circumstances.

Palestinians are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to the Israeli occupation. In this policy brief, Al-Shabaka US Policy Fellow Zena Agha examines how Israel’s appropriation of Palestinian natural resources and restrictions on movement prevents Palestinians from pursuing climate change adaption, and recommends options available to those in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Though the EU routinely fails to transcend statements of condemnation and implement international law regarding Palestinian rights, there is potential for it to hold Israel to account. In light of the US embassy move, Al-Shabaka’s Yara Hawari considers the status of Jerusalem and offers ways the EU can induce Israel to respect the rights of the city’s Palestinian inhabitants.

The “Great Return March” in Gaza is the latest chapter of Palestinian sacrifice and resistance to Israel’s expropriation of land and denial of the right of return. Al-Shabaka policy fellow Yara Hawari reviews Israel’s relentless drive for land on both sides of the Green Line and the many forms of Palestinian resistance and sets out ways to bolster that resistance.