Article - Palestinian Leadership in the Time of Pandemic

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine brings back to focus central questions surrounding the resilience of Palestinian Authority leadership and the efficiency of its governance in times of crisis.

In this policy lab, Al-Shabaka analysts Mohammed Al-Khaldi and Fadi Quran join guest host Marwa Fatafta to weigh in on current emergency measures in the West Bank and their ramifications on the Palestinian people’s trust in leadership. They will also look at connections between the PA’s past public health policies and their impact on its capacity to handle the pandemic.

Marwa is a Palestinian writer, researcher and policy analyst based in Berlin. She leads Access Now’s work on digital rights in the Middle East and...
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Mohammed Al-Khaldi is from the Gaza Strip and holds a Master of Health policy and Management from Al-Quds University-Abu Dis in 2012....
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Fadi Quran is a Senior Campaigner at Avaaz and a Popular Struggle community organizer. He previously served as UN Advocacy Officer with...

Latest Analysis

 Politics
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have brutally murdered over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, injured 100,000, and displaced nearly all of the occupied area’s population. In that same time, the Israeli regime has embarked on the largest invasion of the West Bank since the Second Intifada, resulting in over 600 Palestinians killed and 10,900 detained. Israel has likewise expanded its genocidal assault into Lebanon, killing well over 1,000 people and displacing more than one million. This Focus On highlights how Al-Shabaka has sought to respond to these developments over the past year. From grounding October 7th in the broader context of Israeli settler colonialism, to interrogating Israel's multifaceted war machine, to assessing rapidly evolving regional relations, this compilation of works represents Al-Shabaka's ongoing effort to articulate the Palestinian condition in real time.
 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.
 Civil Society
One year after Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Flood operation, the Heritage Foundation launched Project Esther—an initiative to suppress Palestinian solidarity under the guise of combating antisemitism. The project relies on censorship, lawfare, and intimidation to dismantle advocacy for Palestinian rights as part of a broader bipartisan crackdown that has onlyintensified under Donald Trump’s administration. This policy brief situates Project Esther within the escalating assault on free speech and dissent, revealing how the repression of Palestine advocacy serves as a litmus test for US democracy. It also outlines strategies to resist this authoritarian turn and ensure that the fight for Palestinian liberation remains central to the broader struggle for justice and equality.
Al-Shabaka Tariq Kenney-Shawa
Tariq Kenney-Shawa· Apr 15, 2025
Skip to content