ICT: The Shackled Engine of Palestine’s Development

World attention has been focusing on the Palestinian revolt against Israel’s military occupation. Meanwhile, plans were reportedly still going ahead for an Israeli release of frequencies required for long-awaited 3G and even 4G systems and services. Al-Shabaka analysts Nur Arafeh, Wassim Abdullah, and Sam Bahour provide an incisive account of Israeli obstacles to the Palestinian sector’s development that have led to hundreds of millions in direct losses and lost opportunities.

The success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement launched a decade ago owes much to the constancy of its founding principles and the flexibility of its context-specific actions, as is evident in this policy brief written half-way along the road by Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Omar Barghouti and republished today.

Palestine should confer citizenship on its stateless refugees and enter into bilateral agreements with other states to improve their situation – as citizens - wherever they reside. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Fateh Azzam knows this proposal has pitfalls but argues it is a powerful way to create facts on the road to freedom and rights. Read the policy brief or the executive summary.

Which comes first: shifting the balance of power or reclaiming the Palestinian narrative? Does the Palestinian Authority education system undermine the Palestinian story? Is there a place for the Israeli in the Palestinian narrative? How badly has the hegemonic narrative on Israel in the U.S. been shaken? These questions and more are thrashed out in this provocative Al-Shabaka roundtable.

Most Palestinians saw Hamas’ steadfastness and ability to hit back during Israel’s November attack as a victory. But will they put it to good use, asks Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Haidar Eid, by ending Palestinian security cooperation with Israel – an opportunity missed after Israel’s 2008-09 operation? He argues that no real reconciliation amongst Palestinian factions is possible in the shadow of such collaboration.