Focus On: Palestinian Political Leadership

The Palestinian national movement is in an acute state of crisis, and the Palestinian political system and institutions are incapable of bringing the Palestinian people closer to realize their rights. The existing style of governance and models of leadership prove on a daily basis to be unfit for present and future Palestinian generations seeking equality, justice, and freedom above all. The Palestinian people urgently need a new political leadership that is representative, legitimate, responsible, responsive, and accountable. 

In this selection of pieces, Al-Shabaka policy analysts reflect on the history of leadership in Palestine and explore what lessons can be learned from the past with an eye to the future. They discuss the shortcomings of the existing political leadership and argue for the utmost need for youth-led leadership to emerge and flourish, and for that, they propose a number of concrete steps and actions, envisaging what a new leadership model might look like.

Learning from the Past

Reflections on Palestinian Leaderships Past

Jamil Hilal 

In this commentary, Jamil Hilal reflects on Palestine’s history of leadership. He draws on his own rich experience in the Palestinian national movement, as well as on his scholarship for and about that movement, to identify strengths on which to build and weaknesses to avoid. Read more…

Palestinians and Their Leadership: Restoring the PLO

Marwa Fatafta 

Can we envisage a representative and accountable leadership that enables Palestinians to contribute to the political decisions that shape their lives, that provides them avenues for action, and that serves as an arena for Palestinian political engagement and participation? Marwa Fatafta explores how Palestinians can reclaim and redefine their leadership in the PLO. Read more…

Abbas and the Farce of Palestinian Democracy

Yara Hawari 

What’s behind Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ dissolution of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2018/19? Yara Hawari analyzes the move, uncovering likely motives and consequences in light of Abbas’ broader grip on power, and proposes ways to increase Palestinian democratic space. Read more…

An Illegitimate Leadership Can Sign Away Rights

Zachariah Sammour 

It is clear that Palestinians are fast approaching a juncture at which decisions of extreme national importance may be taken. Zachariah Sammour argues that this requires an immediate and sustained response from all Palestinians, including those in the diaspora. Read more…

Youth and the New Generation of Leaders

Palestinian Leadership Through Resistance or Leaderless Subsistence? The Role of Youth

Fadi Quran 

Fadi Quran addresses the real, indeed, sometimes deliberate, obstacles placed in the way of developing authentic leadership among Palestinians, particularly the youth, and insists that leadership through resistance is the way out of the morass. Read more…

A Leadership Model from the Palestinian Diaspora in the US

Dana El Kurd

The Palestinian diaspora in the US has achieved success in effective organization and activism. Dana El Kurd offers insights into how the experiences of this diaspora can offer new models for leadership that benefit Palestinians everywhere. Read more…

Upending the Palestinian Leadership: The Role of Youth

Fadi Quran 

Though prospects for self-determination appear hopeless under the current Palestinian leadership, Fadi Quran argues that a new generation of young leaders is emerging with the potential to achieve Palestinian liberation. He outlines their challenges and opportunities in light of past leadership trends. Read more…

A New Model for Leadership 

Beyond Sterile Negotiations: Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy

Noura Erakat

Noura Erakat explores how a national liberation strategy can be elaborated and who can lead it. She explores the South Africa model, and argues for a dual approach of working for rights while at the same time actively seeking answers to the pressing need for a unified political program and leadership. Read more… 

Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy

Haidar Eid, Samah Sabawi, Loubna Qutami, & Noura Erakat 

In this roundtable, Haidar Eid, Samah Sabawi, Loubna Qutami, and Noura Erakat critique issues relating to the questions of representation and self-determination, the colonial condition, and the future of the struggle, all from a leadership perspective. Read more…

Palestinian Leadership: What a New Model Might Look Like 

Inès Abdel Razek, Ali Abdel-Wahab, Tareq Baconi, Marwa Fatafta, & Dana El Kurd

In this roundtable, Inès Abdel Razek, Ali Abdel-Wahab, Tareq Baconi, Marwa Fatafta, and Dana El Kurd engage in an open-ended discussion about what can and should be done to ensure a Palestinian leadership that fully represents Palestinians, restores their unity, and respects their rights while they struggle for freedom. Read more…

Marwa is a Palestinian writer, researcher and policy analyst based in Berlin. She leads Access Now’s work on digital rights in the Middle East and...
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Zachariah Sammour completed his undergraduate studies in law at the London School of Economics in 2012 and received his master's degree from...
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...
Tareq Baconi serves as the president of the board of Al-Shabaka. He was Al-Shabaka's US Policy Fellow from 2016 - 2017. Tareq is the former...
Samah Sabawi is a political commentator, author and playwright. She is a member of the board of directors for the National Council on Canada Arab...
Noura Erakat is an assistant professor at George Mason University where she teaches in the legal studies, international studies, and human rights/social justice studies concentrations....
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Loubna Qutami is a Presidents Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. She has a PhD from the Department of Ethnic...
Jamil Hilal is an independent Palestinian sociologist and writer, and has published many books and numerous articles on Palestinian society, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Middle...
Inès Abdel Razek is the Executive Director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and its digital platform Rabet, an independent Palestinian organization focusing on international mobilization and digital...
Haidar Eid is Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Postmodern Literature at Gaza's al-Aqsa University. He has written widely on the Arab-Israeli conflict, including articles published...
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Fadi Quran is a Senior Campaigner at Avaaz and a Popular Struggle community organizer. He previously served as UN Advocacy Officer with...
Al-Shabaka Member Dana El Kurd received her PhD in Government from The University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations....
Ali Abdel-Wahab works as a data analyst and evaluation and follow-up assistant at the Tamer Institute for Community Education in Gaza. He holds a Bachelor's...
(2021, February 23)

Latest Analysis

 Politics
The erasure of Indigenous populations lies at the core of settler-colonial narratives. These narratives aim to deny existing geographies, communities, and histories to justify the displacement and replacement of one people by another. The Zionist project is no exception. Among Zionism’s founding myths is the claim that it “made the desert bloom” and that Tel Aviv, its crown jewel, arose from barren sand dunes—an uninhabitable void transformed by pioneering settlers. This framing obscures the fact that the colonial regime initially built Tel Aviv on the outskirts of Yaffa (Jaffa), a thriving Palestinian city with a rich cultural life and a booming orange trade. The “dunes” description projects emptiness and conceals the vibrant agricultural and social life that flourished in the area. By casting the land as uninhabitable until redeemed by settlers, this narrative helped justify dispossession and colonial expansion. This process intensified after 1948, when Tel Aviv absorbed the lands of ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages, including al-Sumayil, Salame, Shaykh Muwannis, and Abu Kabir, and ultimately extended into the city of Yaffa. This same settler-colonial discourse drives the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, where destruction is reframed through the narrative of “uninhabitability.” Gaza is increasingly depicted as a lifeless ruin—a framing that is far from neutral. This commentary contends that “uninhabitable” is a politically charged term that masks culpability, reproduces colonial erasure, and shapes policy and public perception in ways that profoundly affect Palestinian lives and futures. It examines the origins, function, and implications of this discourse within the logic of settler colonialism, calling for a radical shift in language from narratives that obscure violence to those affirming Palestinian presence, history, and sovereignty.
Abdalrahman Kittana· Aug 27, 2025
 Politics
Since October 2023, Israel’s assault on Gaza has produced one of the most catastrophic humanitarian crises in recent history—an unfolding genocide enabled by world powers and continuing unabated despite the sweeping global solidarity it has sparked. Alongside relentless bombardment and mass displacement, the Israeli regime is waging a deliberate campaign of starvation. In response to this Israeli-manufactured catastrophe, several European states have begun recognizing or signaling their intent to recognize the State of Palestine. Most recently, France announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. The UK has stated it will follow suit unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and recommits to a two-state solution. The recent wave of symbolic recognitions that began in 2024 now appears to be the only step many European powers are willing to take in the face of genocide, following nearly two years of moral, material, and diplomatic support for the Israeli regime as well as near-total impunity. This roundtable conversation with Al Shabaka policy analysts Diana Buttu, Inès Abdel Razek, and Al Shabaka’s co-director, Yara Hawari, asks: Why now? What political or strategic interests are driving this wave of recognition? And what does it mean to recognize a Palestinian state, on paper, while leaving intact the structures of occupation, apartheid, and the genocidal regime that sustains them?
 Politics
In March, Israel shattered the ceasefire in Gaza by resuming its bombing campaign at full force and enforcing a total blockade on humanitarian aid—ushering in a new phase of the ongoing genocide. In response to mounting international criticism, the Israeli regime introduced a tightly controlled aid scheme designed not to alleviate suffering, but to obscure its use of starvation as a weapon of collective punishment. Through the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Israel has transformed humanitarian aid into a tool of control, coercion, and forced displacement. Israeli forces have additionally blocked UN and other aid agencies from accessing over 400 distribution points they once operated throughout Gaza. They consequently forced two million Palestinians to rely on just four GHF sites, most near its southern border in what appears to be a deliberate effort to push mass displacement toward Egypt. Investigations have also revealed how US-based private contractors are actively profiting from the GHF’s deadly operations. In this policy lab, Yara Asi and Alex Feagans join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss how the GHF fits into Israel’s genocidal strategy—and to expose the network of individuals and companies profiting from what has been a death trap masquerading as humanitarian assistance.
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