Al-Shabaka Member Dana El Kurd received her PhD in Government from The University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. Her dissertation explores how international patrons affect authoritarian consolidation in the Palestinian territories. Dana writes regularly for publications such as Al-Araby al-Jadeed, The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, and Foreign Affairs. She currently works as a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and its sister institution, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
From this author
As the Israeli regime continues its genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, many have begun to weigh in on the future of Hamas and of Palestinian leadership more broadly once the bombardment ends. One of the dominant proposals circulating amongst analysts, Palestinian and otherwise, is the revival of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), with Hamas as a member party.
US President Joe Biden’s July 2022 visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia signified a new era of regional alliances that are inextricably linked to the expanding normalization deals heralded by the Abraham Accords.
Jerusalem continues to lie at the center of political developments in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and in the shifting landscape of US and EU foreign policy toward Palestine and the Israeli regime.
The Palestinian national movement is in an acute state of crisis, and the Palestinian political system and institutions are incapable of bringing the Palestinian people closer to realize their rights. The existing style of governance and models of leadership prove on a daily basis to be unfit for present and future Palestinian generations seeking equality, justice, and freedom above all.
How can the PLO maintain accountability as both a national liberation movement and governing body? How might Hamas and Islamic Jihad be integrated after decades of exclusion? What models of Palestinian youth leadership can be further developed?
Normalization relations between Israel and the Arab countries have become clearer and more acceptable than ever before. How has normalization changed over the decades, and what does it look like today? In the upcoming Policy Lab, Al-Shabaka analysts Dana Al-Kurd and Oraib Al-Rantawi will join host Nour Arafa to discuss the stages of development of normalization and its repercussions on the Palestinian struggle and on the citizens of normalizing countries.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has perhaps never been so embattled, polarizing, or internally fragmented. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the PA has cut itself off from Gaza, and reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah continues to be elusive.
With current Palestinian governance facing a legitimacy crisis, Al-Shabaka convened an open-ended Policy Circle on Leadership and Accountability to elicit recommendations for a leadership that fully represents Palestinians, restores their unity, and respects their rights. Our experts suggest models ranging from a restructured PLO to a populist democracy represented by civil society organizations.
What does Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital mean for Palestine and the Palestinians? In a new roundtable, Al-Shabaka policy analysts weigh in and discuss ways in which Palestinians can safeguard their rights against this setback.
