Op-Eds & Articles

The dust is settling after US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan, and it is now easier to see the extent of the debris he has left behind. It is perhaps at the geopolitical level that Obama has done the most damage - and that to the weakest party, the Palestinian authority, he met. The surprise reconciliation he engineered between Israel and Turkey has reversed the only regional realignment in the Palestinians' favour for years.

We won't achieve democracy with a movement that's not democratic. Read a shortened version of Osamah Khalil's original Al-Shabaka policy brief, "'Who are You?'": The PLO and the Limits of Representation."

If the U.S. stops Genie Energy from going ahead with an oil contract, it invites the wrath of myriad pro-Israel groups, writes Al-Shabaka Executive Director Nadia Hijab.

Al-Shabaka Program Director Alaa Tartir reviewed Nigel Parsons's new book, "The Politics of the Palestinian Authority" -- a historical journey in modern Palestinian political history and a "must-read" -- for e-International Relations.

What signals do Obama’s new foreign policy picks send about the kind of America the Middle East can expect?

"Palestinians don’t need more aid. They need American political clout to end the occupation as the first step to a just and lasting peace."

Israel controls the Palestinian population registry and all important cards required to enter Gaza and the West Bank.

This post is part of the series "Roots of Resistance: 25 year retrospective on the first intifada." Read the entire series here.

"In order to understand Gaza in 2012, one ought to trace its origin back to 1948. Two thirds of the Palestinians of Gaza are refugees who were kicked out of their cities, towns, and villages in 1948. In After the Last Sky, the late Palestinian thinker Edward Said argues that every Palestinian knows perfectly well that what has happened to us over the last six decades is 'a direct consequence of Israel’s destruction of our society in 1948...'"

Congratulations are raining as friends of the Palestinians respond with delight to the United Nations' resounding "Yes!" to Palestine's non-member observer state status as of November 29, 2012. But before giving free rein to their excitement, the Palestinian people - and their allies - should read the actual text of the resolution.