An Illegitimate Leadership Can Sign Away Rights
As Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Mahmoud Abbas heads to Washington to meet U.S. President Barack Obama, Palestinians are fast approaching a critical juncture in the U.S.-driven negotiations with Israel. Al-Shabaka Policy Member Zachariah Sammour warns of the grave implications and urges an immediate and sustained response by all Palestinians, including those in the Diaspora who may stand to lose their historic claim of return to the homeland.
What Role for Law in the Palestinian Struggle for Liberation?
Palestinians are divided over whether law can serve a positive function in their quest for self-determination. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Noura Erakat argues that law’s value is wholly contingent on the broader political framework that gives it meaning. She proposes that Palestinians adopt a complementary approach that includes using the law when justice can be served and political avenues when the law itself entrenches unjust outcomes.
NGOs vs. Grassroots Movements: A False Dichotomy
Are people’s movements intrinsically superior to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or is there a role for different types of organizations in the Palestinian civil society spectrum? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Fateh Azzam reviews some of the recent critiques of NGOs in favor of popular movements. He discusses the issues of representation, agendas, and funding, among others, and argues that there is room for all.
The Palestinian Capitalists That Have Gone Too Far
A powerful group of Palestinian capitalists is thriving in the occupied Palestinian territory even as most of the population is struggling to survive. Too often, they owe their wealth to economic collaboration with Israel. Drawing on recent research, Al-Shabaka Policy Member Tariq Dana analyzes the ways in which these “crony capitalists” influence policy, use indebtedness for social control, and normalize the occupation. Click below for the full brief or read the executive summary.
Dis-participation as a Palestinian Strategy?
Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Haidar Eid trenchantly reviews the state of Palestinian political parties on the Right and on the Left. He concludes that the only way to work effectively for Palestinian rights may be to “dis-participate” in these largely illegitimate and ineffective political structures while at the same time working on some of the other alternatives available.
Transforming Our Vision of Palestine Into Reality
A not-so-silent Palestinian majority opposes a peace that brings no justice. This fact underlies Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Sam Bahour’s trenchant reality check for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s push for a two-state solution. Bahour disposes of the myths still shrouding the failed negotiations and calls for economic investment of the right kind on the path to freedom, justice and equality.
Activating Palestine’s UNESCO Membership
Palestinian leaders have not activated Palestine’s UNESCO membership despite the costly battle to join and even though it could help rebalance the skewed Israeli-Palestinian power dynamic. Al-Shabaka Guest Author Valentina Azarov and Policy Member Nidal Sliman review the assaults on Palestinian cultural heritage and set out the significant practical advantages of UNESCO membership, including reasserting sovereignty over Palestinian land and sea and obliging third states to hold Israel accountable.
Can Oslo’s Failed Aid Model Be Laid to Rest?
The Oslo Accords not only left the Palestinian people much worse off politically; they also devastated the economy of those living under Israeli occupation despite the $23 billion-plus that donors have poured into the territory. What’s worse, Wildeman and Tartir found no signs of a change in donor policies in their recent study.
Oslo’s Roots: Kissinger, the PLO, and the Peace Process
According to conventional wisdom, the PLO signed the Oslo Accords twenty years ago because it was almost bankrupt and feared an alternate leadership would emerge. But PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat sought to establish relations with the U.S. after the October 1973 War and offered significant concessions before ever reaching the negotiating table.
