In ‘Goliath,’ the Past Is Always Present for Palestinians
Al-Shabaka Director Nadia Hijab reviews Max Blumenthal’s new book, “Goliath,” “an important touchstone,” with its “fast-paced journalistic style,” its “constantly juxtaposing past and present,” its “moments of hope,” its “keen sense of absurdity,” and its twin threads: Israeli “extreme right-wing nationalists’ consolidation of power since the collapse of the peace process,” and the “direct line between the Zionist ideology of the late 1800s and the racist state of today.”
Kerry’s billions: US economic plans for occupied Palestine
Development planning since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 has followed a non-participatory, top-down approach that conforms to the policy perceptions of international financial institutions, and marginalizes the very people it is supposed to benefit.
The Palestinian Capitalists That Have Gone Too Far
While most Palestinians living under Israeli occupation are struggling to survive, a powerful group of Palestinian capitalists is thriving and growing in political, economic and social influence. They deal with the Israelis as though they were a “normal” business partner rather than an occupying power.
The State of Play in Palestine: A Roundtable
Al-Shabaka policy advisors Mouin Rabbani and Sam Bahour contribute to this roundtable discussion on peace talks containing plenty of terse judgment for a weak and self-serving Palestinian leadership. Bahour: “[The] leadership is playing with fire … For more than three decades PLO leaders have played the same losing game, trying to convince the US to do the right thing and exert pressure on Israel, without fully leveraging the few tools the Palestinians have available to them.”
Palestinians united?
A debate includes three Al-Shabaka Policy Advisors on the best strategies for the Palestinian national movement.
Palestine & UNESCO: The national duty to protect cultural heritage
The second of two Ma’an installments of a policy brief from Al-Shabaka.
Can Palestinians advance their rights through UNESCO?
In a recent policy brief Al-Shabaka guest author Valentina Azarov and Policy Member Nidal Sliman set out the practical advantages of Palestinian UNESCO membership; then they published this follow-up article at Foreign Policy’s blog “The Middle East Channel”…
Analysis: What future for the Oslo Model?
The second installment of a two-part policy brief from Al-Shabaka. The first part can be found here. The Oslo Accords not only left the Palestinian people much worse off politically; they also devastated the economy of those living under Israeli occupation despite the $23 billion-plus that donors have poured into the territory. What’s worse, Al-Shabaka Guest Author Jeremy Wildeman and Program Director Alaa Tartir found no signs of a change in donor policies in their recent study. The Oslo aid model may be here to stay unless Palestinians forcefully demand change.
Palestinian left: much-needed, overdue critique!
A “new,” representative Left is necessary, free from Oslo. It must act with other resistance forces to strategize and build on international solidarity to confront the Zionist, imperialist onslaught. If the Left fails to develop an alternative, we will be dealing with the Fatah-Hamas dichotomy for a long time. Haidar Eid explains.
