Authoritarianism in Palestine
Phil Leech reviews Al-Shabaka’s policy brief on the PA security sector with some indicators of rising authoritarianism: “There is now one security person for every 52 Palestinian residents compared to one educator for every 75 residents… there are already 52 new prisons and eight new security compounds – as well as riot control gear.”
Understanding Israeli Apartheid
Under apartheid in South Africa, Bantustans were established as a means to register and confine the work and activities of people to ‘homeland’ areas, whereas Palestinians today are actively denied homeland anywhere, while Israel continues its land grabs, says Al-Shabaka cofounder Samer Abdelnour in this good summary by The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs of Abdelnour’s recent presentation, “Understanding Israeli Apartheid,” at The Jerusalem Fund & Palestine Center in Washington.
Samah Sabawi on ABC Radio Melbourne
Featuring Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Samah Sabawi:
US Taxpayers and Palestine’s Forced Dependency on Israel
Energy production and distribution are a case-in-point of “increasing forced Palestinian dependence on Israel,” explains Al-Shabaka’s Commissioning Editor Jacqueline Sansour. “As a [U.S.] taxpayer, I want Americans’ $600 million-a-year contribution to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to help end this occupation, not make it easier for Palestinians to endure it.” Sansour’s study is also a guide to several other Al-Shabaka-exclusive critiques on the Palestinians and their embargoed energy resources.
As Abbas returns from US, critics say talks doomed to fail
Ma’an report quotes Al-Shabaka Director Nadia Hijab: “As Mahmoud Abbas left his meeting with US president Barack Obama today, did he reflect on the lessons of seeking peace without power?” — as well as Policy Advisor Sam Bahour: “There is not an iota of symmetry between a military occupying power and a supposedly protected occupied people. When the US stops putting Israel’s interests before its own and starts holding it accountable in proportion to the severity of its violations of international law, then maybe peace will have a chance.”
Obama, Abbas note challenges to ‘elusive goal’ of Mideast peace
Al-Shabaka Director Nadia Hijab is quoted: “As Mahmoud Abbas left his meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama today, did he reflect on the lessons of seeking peace without power?”
EU Aid to Palestinians: Help or Hindrance?
“Aid has not helped to fulfil Palestinians dreams, nor did it lead to sustainable development. Independence is today further away than 20 years ago,” Alaa Tartir, Al-Shabaka Program Director, told IRIN.
Aid will never buy peace
“…As someone who spent the last few years of his life in Europe pursuing postgraduate studies, I must say … the EU, its countries and institutions, deny their very own democratic principles and normative values … where they are not applied to Israel-Palestine. To do all of this, two prerequisites must exist: the political will, and the ability to challenge the dishonest broker in the peace process, the United States … These suggestions are not coming from a dreamer, but rather from a Palestinian who has lived three decades of his life under Israeli military occupation.” –AlShabaka Program Director Alaa Tartir in an interview that draws upon Al-Shabaka’s extensive economic policy analysis including Tartir’s latest brief, “Can Oslo’s Failed Aid Model Be Laid to Rest?“, co-authored with Jeremy Wildeman.
Kerry, Quartet $4B Plan Will Fail Palestinians, Economists Warn
Featuring Al-Shabaka Program Director Alaa Tartir:
