Palestine and US Elections

The topic of Palestine is already proving to be divisive within the US Democratic primaries, and it will undoubtedly remain a consistent question throughout the 2020 election season.

Where do leading presidential candidates stand, and what role does civil society play in influencing shifts in political discourse and policy positions? Al-Shabaka analysts Halah Ahmad and Zaha Hassan weigh in on these questions and more in our Super Tuesday policy lab.

Zaha Hassan

Al-Shabaka Policy Member Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focuses on Palestine-Israel...

Halah Ahmad

Halah Ahmad is a policy researcher, writer, and policy communications expert. Most recently, she led legislative affairs as VP for Policy at the Jain Family...

(2020, March 3)

Latest Analysis

Roundtable

Refugees

Palestinian Camps in Lebanon: Disarmament, Rights, and Return

Lebanese officials have revived calls to disarm Palestinian factions inside refugee camps, presenting it as part of efforts to curb “illicit weapons” and reinforce state sovereignty. Yet for many Palestinians and regional observers, the refugee-camp disarmament initiative signifies an attempt to recalibrate the region’s security landscape. It also revives traumatic collective memories of earlier disarmament campaigns that left camps exposed to massacres.

Jaber Suleiman,Wesam Sabaaneh· Nov 12, 2025

Policy Brief

Economics

AI for War: Big Tech Empowering Israel’s Crimes and Occupation

US tech giants portray themselves as architects of a better world powered by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and data-driven solutions. Under slogans like “AI for Good,” they promise ethical innovation and social progress. Yet in Gaza, these narratives have collapsed, alongside international norms and what remains of the so-called rules-based order. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has highlighted the role of major technology companies in enabling military operations and sustaining the occupation. Beneath the destruction lie servers, neural networks, and software built by some of the world’s most powerful corporations. As Israel weaponizes AI and data analytics to kill Palestinians and destroy their homes, the militarization of digital technologies and infrastructures is redefining accountability and exposing a governance vacuum. This policy brief traces how corporate complicity now extends to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide—and calls for urgent regulation of AI militarization.

Marwa Fatafta· Oct 26, 2025

Policy Lab

Politics

Two Years of Genocide: Gaza and the Unraveling World Order

In this policy lab, Leila Farsakh and Abdaljawad Omar join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to trace the historical trajectory leading to October 7, examine how Gaza has become both a site of extermination and a catalyst for global rupture, and discuss what comes next for Palestinians.