When Exiled Communities Act
Oraib al-Rantawi‘s commentary draws on his recent visit to the Palestinian community in Germany to discuss the PNC Registration Campaign, a civic drive to register Palestinians using a secure online mechanism so they can vote in direct elections for the Palestine National Council.
Debating Palestine: Representation, Resistance, and Liberation
Palestinian communities the world over are grappling with the questions of who really speaks in their name and how to craft strategies for resistance and liberation. In this thoughtful essay, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rabab Abdulhadi draws on the history of the Palestinian national movement as well as her own experience as a scholar-activist to provide some answers. She also asks provocative new questions – such as what does it mean to be a Palestinian today and where does that leave Palestinian Arab Jews and Jews that do not identify with Israel’s settler colonialism, and what kind of relations Palestinians should develop with the Arab movements for freedom.
A Reset for U.S. Policy? Not Now, But Watch the Base
What can be expected from the final months of the Obama Administration on the Arab-Israeli conflict? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rashid Khalidi is pessimistic about any policy shift in the foreseeable future. Indeed, he describes President Barack Obama’s UN speech in September as the worst ever by an American president and AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) as far more effective today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, partly due to the efforts of Dennis Ross. In this wide-ranging interview with Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Victor Kattan, Khalidi explains why he sees no hope at present for a just U.S. policy, although this could change if public opinion — which is much more enlightened than that of U.S. policy makers — makes itself felt through the media and at the political level.
What’s Next for Palestine?
The failure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s bid for full membership in the United Nations marks the end of the road for the Palestinian Authority, argues Al-Shabaka policy advisor Samah Sabawi. She discusses the PA’s disarray and notes that future setbacks can only be avoided with a completely different approach in the struggle for human rights.
The Geopolitics of the Hamas-Israel Prisoner Exchange
Each of the key actors involved in the Israeli Palestinian conflict is using the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange to position themselves to regional advantage although it is too soon to tell who will come out ahead. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Laila El-Haddad examines the way in which the shifting geopolitics will impact internal Palestinian dynamics.
Prisoner Exchange Levels Hamas, Fatah Playing Field
Will the threats from Washington and the exposed impotence of the European Union push the newly revived Hamas and the somewhat deflated Fatah into serious reconciliation and the beginnings of a common Palestinian platform? Mouin Rabbani, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, dissects the rapidly changing political landscape in the wake of the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange and the run-up to the Security Council decision on the Palestine Liberation Organization’s bid at the United Nations.
Statehood Stalled: Next Steps for the Palestinian People
Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to submit the application for membership to the UN Security Council rather than the General Assembly last week enabled him – and the Obama administration – to take a step back from confrontation. Al-Shabaka Director Nadia Hijab examines the several unintended consequences of the statehood bid and argues that the Palestinian people should use this time to redouble efforts to save the land of Palestine, press for accountability, demand representation, and exploit the legal approaches offered by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, calling for state sanctions against Israel alongside the highly successful boycott and divestment movement.
September and Beyond: Who Speaks in My Name?
As the UN vote on recognition of the state of Palestine approaches later this month, Al-Shabaka policy advisor Samah Sabawi argues in this commentary that the controversy surrounding the bid obscures the larger question of whether the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority are legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
Declaring an Independent Bantustan
The Palestinian Authority is attempting to achieve UN recognition of the state of Palestine in September. In this Al-Shabaka commentary, policy advisor Haidar Eid argues that it will be a state in name only, resembling the “independent homelands,” or bantustans, created by South Africa’s apartheid regime.
