Apartheid: How Useful is the Framework for the Palestinian Struggle?

In our first Palestine Policy Lab session, Al-Shabaka analysts Yara Hawari and Diana Buttu weigh in on the usefulness of the Apartheid framework in the Palestinian context.

Al-Shabaka Yara Hawari

Yara Hawari

Yara Hawari is Al-Shabaka's co-director. She previously served as the Palestine policy fellow and senior analyst. Yara completed her PhD in Middle East Politics at...
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Al-Shabaka Diana Buttu

Diana Buttu

Diana Buttu is a lawyer who previously served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and was part of the team that assisted...
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Policy Brief
 Economics

Gaza’s Telecommunications: Occupied and Destroyed

At the time of publication, the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government was underway. The deal comes after Palestinians in Gaza endured a devastating 15-month-long genocidal war that claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured many more. Israel’s intense shelling of Gaza has had a catastrophic effect on its infrastructure, including the telecommunications network, forcing the population into a near-total internet and cellular blackout. This policy brief examines the devastating impact of the Israeli regime’s actions on Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure and internet access. It situates Israel's attack on the communications sector within the broader framework of neo-colonialism. It explains how Israel’s stranglehold on the Palestinian digital infrastructure strengthens its political and economic hegemony, which is one of the most important features of the Zionist settler colonial project. It also highlights the resilience of Palestinians resisting enforced communication blackouts. It finally offers actionable recommendations for the international community to support enhanced digital access in Gaza and break its technological dependence on Israel.
Ali Abdel-Wahab· Feb 4, 2025
Roundtable
 Politics

Gaza Ceasefire Deal: Respite but No End to Colonial Occupation

On January 15, 2025, Qatar announced a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli regime and Hamas. The long-awaited deal, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, promised an end to 15 months of genocidal assault on Gaza, during which Israeli forces killed at least 64,260 Palestinians and reduced much of the strip to rubble. While the implementation of the ceasefire offers critical relief for Palestinians in Gaza who have been enduring and resisting genocide, skepticism remains over the feasibility of its full implementation. In this roundtable, Al Shabaka analysts Shatha Abdulsamad, Basil Farraj, Talal Abu Rokbeh, and Diana Buttu weigh in on the different aspects of the ceasefire deal and what they mean in the broader context of Israeli settler colonial occupation of Palestine.
Al-Shabaka Shatha Abdulsamad
Al-Shabaka Basil Farraj
Al-Shabaka Talal Ahmad Abu Rokbeh
Al-Shabaka Diana Buttu
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Shatha Abdulsamad,Basil Farraj,Talal Ahmad Abu Rokbeh, + More· Jan 28, 2025
Policy Brief
 Economics

Israel’s Exploitation of Palestinian Labor: A Strategy of Erasure

Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, Palestinian laborers working in the Israeli market have become a top target for Israel's brutal Civil and Economic Affairs Cabinet and the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. During this time, the Zionist regime terminated over 140,000 work permits, detained thousands of Palestinian workers, and began formal discussions with various Asian governments to recruit foreign laborers as replacements. In this policy brief, Ihab Maharmeh details a recurring pattern in which Israel summons, exploits, expels, or replaces the Palestinian workforce based on its needs. This calculated approach, Maharmeh argues, is designed to systematically dismantle Palestinian political, economic, and social structures, ultimately advancing the goal of Palestinian erasure.
Al-Shabaka Ihab Maharmeh
Ihab Maharmeh· Jan 5, 2025

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