The UK and Its Illusive Arms Embargo

UK arms companies have long profited from selling weapons to Israel, with licenses issued from the British government. Since 2008, these exports have totaled an estimated $740 million, continuing even amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In protest, a Foreign Office official recently resigned over this policy of continued licensing. Following the Labour Party’s July […]

Student Organizing & Change-Making on University Campuses

This commentary is based on an episode of Rethinking Palestine, Al-Shabaka’s podcast series, which aired on May 27, 2024. The discussion may be listened to in full here. In April 2024, students at Columbia University set up an encampment on campus grounds in solidarity with the Palestinian people—particularly those in Gaza facing the ongoing genocide.  […]

The Gaza Genocide in Western Media: Culprits of Complicity

This commentary is based on a presentation delivered by Al-Shabaka Co-Director Yara Hawari at the 2024 Annual Palestine Forum, hosted by the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar, in February, 2024.  Introduction Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, Israeli regime bombardments and forces […]

Cecilia Baeza

Al-Shabaka Cecilia Baeza

Cecilia Baeza is lecturer at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, Brazil. She is co-founder of RIMAAL, a network of researchers on the links between Latin America and the Middle East. She holds a doctorate in international relations from Sciences Po-Paris.

Amal Ahmad

Amal Ahmad is a Palestinian economic researcher. Amal interned at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute in Ramallah before completing a Master’s degree in development economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Her work focuses on fiscal and monetary relations between Israel and Palestine; she is also interested in the political economy of development in the broader Middle East.

Palestine Solidarity Crackdown: Challenges in the US & Europe

مقال - حملة التضامن مع فلسطين: التحديات في الولايات المتحدة وأوروبا

Israel’s 2023 genocide of Palestinians in Gaza has horrified many around the world and drawn widespread public outcry, with unprecedented levels of solidarity organizing taking place. But as this unparalleled camaraderie has emerged, so too has extraordinary repression at every level. Al-Shabaka spoke with Layla Kattermann of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and Diala Shamas of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) for further insight on this suppression of mobilization and methods to resist such efforts to stifle Palestine solidarity.

The Dangerous Exceptionalism of Christian Zionism

In recent years, much has been written about the overwhelming support former President Donald Trump has received from white evangelical Christians, particularly Christian Zionists. Less examined is the relationship between white supremacy and Christian Zionism, namely their overlapping ideologies and political clout.

In this policy brief, analysts 24418 and 24484 examine the sinister synergy between Christian Zionism and white supremacy, unpacking the exceptionalism upon which Christian Zionist racist ideologies, discourses, and politics are based.

Sanctioning Israel: Feasibility and Ethical Considerations

Sanctions policy lab

As the Israeli regime escalates its apartheid and settler colonial practices in Palestine, calls for accountability are mounting. Among these demands are growing calls for sanctions. In this interview, Al-Shabaka speaks with Khaled Elgindy and Nada Elia for further insight on this topic. Together, they detail the varied forms that sanctions may take, their potential to affect meaningful change, and distinguish how sanctions targeting the Israeli regime would differ from those wielded by Western powers in other contexts.

Sanctions Against Israel: Effective Tool or Too Little, Too Late?

Sanctions policy lab

As the Israeli regime escalates its apartheid and settler colonial practices in Palestine, calls for sanctions against it have likewise increased. Still, sanctions remain controversial – both in terms of their ethics and efficacy. Indeed, many have argued that sanctions have rarely achieved their intended goals. What might sanctions look like in the context of […]