Collective Punishment: Israel's Strategy to Subdue Palestinian Resistance

In his July 2020 report to the UN Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur S. Michael Lynk asserts that “Israel continues to rely upon collective punishment as a prominent instrument in its coercive toolbox of population control.”

From home demolitions to the Gaza blockade to the withholding of Palestinian bodies, Israel wields collective punishment tactics to subjugate and suppress the Palestinian population. In this policy lab, Al-Shabaka analysts Nada Awad and Issam Younis join host Nur Arafeh to discuss the toll of this strategy on the Palestinian people and how it fits into Israel’s broader system of apartheid.

* Unfortunately, this YouTube recording cuts off the initial 5 minutes of the policy lab. To view the discussion in full, please click here

Nur Arafeh is a Fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, in Washington DC, where her work focuses on the political economy...
Al-Shabaka policy member Nada Awad holds a master’s degree in International Relations and International Security from Sciences Pro Paris. She works on human rights violations...
Issam Younis is the Director of Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He is the Commissioner General of The Palestinian Independent Commission for Hunan...

Latest Analysis

 Economics
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 Ihab Maharmeh
Ihab Maharmeh· Jan 5, 2025
 Politics
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.
Al-Shabaka Tareq Baconi
Tareq Baconi· Dec 17, 2024
 Politics
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.
Skip to content