Article - Lawfare and Palestine: Strategies for Resisting Criminalization

Israel’s recent criminalization of six Palestinian human rights organizations has sparked global outcry. But this tactic fits into a global trend of lawfare led by right-wing and conservative governments, including in the US and Europe, against activists and grassroots organizers. it must be actively resisted politically and legally.

On the anniversary of the First Intifada, Al-Shabaka asks Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal: How can Palestinians and their allies move away from defensively responding to criminalization accusations towards a proactive strategy which challenges the Israeli regime’s lawfare tactics? How can this approach combine political and legal strategies? How can it engage intersectionally with other progressive movements?

Omar Barghouti is a Palestinian human rights defender and co-founder of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights. He is a...
Nadim Bawalsa is Associate Editor with the Journal of Palestine Studies. From 2020-2023, Nadim served as Al-Shabaka’s commissioning editor. He is a historian of modern...
With: Dima Khalidi

Latest Analysis

 Civil Society
In this policy lab, Mariam Barghouti and Sharif Abdel Kouddous join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss Israel’s targeted assassination campaign against Palestinian journalists, the complicity of Western media in normalizing these crimes, and how this silence allows Israel to get away with genocide.
Al-Shabaka Mariam Barghouti
Mariam Barghouti· May 28, 2025
 Civil Society
As the US and its allies lead a sweeping assault on the global legal order to shield the Israeli regime from accountability for genocide, international outrage has sparked an extraordinary wave of pro-Palestine solidarity and organizing. Millions have taken to the streets in a broad-based protest movement that marks a profound shift in public consciousness. In addition, a growing surge of grassroots initiatives has solidified Palestine as a central pillar in the global struggle for justice. Al-Shabaka’s latest Focus On explores how this solidarity is expanding and being reimagined globally. It highlights both the significant challenges facing the movement amid a vicious crackdown on pro-Palestine activism and the powerful, imaginative strategies that are emerging in resistance. Featuring insights from analysts across advocacy, academia, and policy, this collection examines how such solidarity can be sustained and transformed into a lasting political force.
 Politics
After more than a year and a half of Israel’s genocidal assault—marked by mass killings, devastation, and profound loss—even speaking of Gaza’s future, let alone its reconstruction, feels impossible. Indeed, the rebuilding of Gaza feels increasingly out of reach amid stalled negotiations, the collapse of the ceasefire agreement, and the relentless bombardment of people and place. Yet in the face of genocide and the looming threat of forced displacement, which the US administration is audaciously promoting as a fait accompli, there is an urgent need to cultivate a critical Palestinian political voice to reclaim Gaza’s future. As non-Palestinian actors push to impose their vision of the “day after,” this commentary by Talal Abu Rokbeh, Mohammed Al-Hafi, and Alaa Tartir argues for centering a Palestinian vision rooted in unity and self-determination. They emphasize that political reconstruction, not just physical rebuilding, is essential for collective survival and national liberation.
Skip to content