This article provides a contextual analysis of the evolution and reform processes of Palestinian security forces over the last two decades. It categorises the evolution of security reform processes into three phases: the Oslo Accords phase; the Second Intifada phase; and the Fayyadism phase.

The Israeli occupying force’s latest incursions in Al Haram Al Sharif are entirely predictable. Last week, Palestinians attempted to stop Israeli Agriculture Minister, Uri Ariel, from entering the compound, which is the third holiest site in Islam.

President Obama promised that as soon as the Iran nuclear deal is closed he will refocus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Given this shift of focus is now in sight, Obama should grant U.S. recognition of Palestine as an independent state, albeit a militarily occupied one. Such an elementary step is long overdue and may be the sole act that saves the two-state solution.

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is expected to meet this month in its first session since 2009 to accept the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), along with more than half the Executive Committee’s 18 members. The PNC does of course have the option of rejecting some or all of the resignations, and in any case Abbas still wears several hats: he remains head of state, President of the Palestinian Authority, commander-in-chief, and head of the Fatah political party. Moreover, all those who resign are free to stand again.

Ted Lapkin's claim that Palestinian national identity is a roadblock to peace is a disingenuous attempt to justify the brutal reality Israel imposes on Palestinians every day.

Lapkin asserts Palestinian nationalism evolved in the 1920s as a negative reaction to Zionism, making attempts at reconciliation "impossible" as it would negate "the central pillar" of the Palestinian existence.

An estimated 28% of the population of the Gaza Strip was displaced at the height of the 50-day attack. Ten months later, the last UNRWA collective shelters were emptied, but displacement is still widespread. No one knows exactly how many people still live in the ruined remains of their homes, but according to the Shelter Cluster, a UN coordination body, well over 100,000 families (over half a million people) are still without adequate housing--including the 500 families residing in caravans.

Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas will, later this month, reportedly resign as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), though not the PNA, after holding this position for more than a decade. More than half of the members of the PLO governing body, the PLO Executive Committee, will also tender their resignations along with Abbas in a move that his supporters claim will bring in “new faces”. But lest such seemingly positive statements fool anyone, it is important to highlight what Abbas is doing — and what he is not doing.

Israel’s planned and systematic actions to maintain full control of the Palestinian economy for over five decades has become a major hurdle in getting Israel to realize that its military occupation of Palestinians must come to an end. Like recovery from other addictions, this one will require external support. 

Tariq Dana makes the case that corruption is structural to the Palestinian body politic and pre-dates the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

Predictions of a new Palestinian intifada in the occupied territories tend to accompany every breakdown in the diplomatic process, announcement of a new colonial expansion project, and Israeli violence against Palestinian life—such as the recent horrific murder of Palestinian infant Ali Dawabsheh by settler terrorists who set fire to his West Bank family home.