Al Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network — Raising Palestinian Voices

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This month, we are shining FMEP’s spotlight on Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, a necessary and transformative initiative cultivating and elevating the voices of Palestinian experts on policy issues which impact the Palestinian people. Below, you can read about Al-Shabaka’s work and listen to a podcast with Al-Shabaka’s co-founder and Board president, Nadia Hijab, and Senior Policy Fellow, Dr. Yara Hawari. You can also watch recent FMEP webinars featuring al-Shabaka analysts and fellows, which showcase the remarkable depth and breadth of Al-Shabaka experts’ expertise. 

We urge you to take the time to learn about Al-Shabaka’s important mission — and we hope you will join FMEP in supporting Al-Shabaka’s workYou can also learn more about FMEP’s grant philosophy and the other amazing organizations that FMEP supports here. Previous partner/grantee Spotlights can be found here.

For more about Al-Shabaka, listen to  Sarah Anne Minkin interview Al-Shabaka’s Nadia Hijab and Yara Hawari:

Occupied Thoughts by FMEP · Al – Shabaka spotlight

 

Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Making Palestinian Voices Impossible to Ignore

Al-Shabaka challenges, expands on, and offers alternatives to existing stale and failed visions for achieving Palestinian human rights and self-determination. This think-tank-without-borders has established and continues to develop an unparalleled cohort of Palestinian experts, including many younger Palestinians and many younger Palestinian women, who regularly and professionally articulate Palestinian perspectives in key policy debates. Through their frequent and consistently excellent briefs and commentaries, Al-Shabaka challenges the status quo in which global media and policymakers too often exclude, marginalize, or tokenize Palestinian voices in discussions about policies and news that directly affect Palestinians and their future.

The critical importance of Al-Shabaka’s work is clearly seen now, at a time when Israeli de jure (under Israeli law; illegal under international law) annexation of Palestinian land seems imminent. While it is Palestinians who will directly suffer as a result of Israel’s actions, most international discourse around annexation is focused on its implications for Israel, with skeptics and critics of annexation almost universally framing their analysis in terms of why annexation hurts Israel’s interests (or American or European interests). To the extent that such analyses acknowledge the existence of Palestinians — people whose lives are already dominated and defined by ongoing policies of de facto annexation — such acknowledgement is largely limited to analyzing the policies of the Palestinian Authority or assessing the likelihood of Palestinians responding to annexation with violence. 

In this context, Al-Shabaka plays a more important role than ever, offering a desperately needed corrective to such discourse. Through their production of timely analysis, commentary, and recommendations written from a deeply informed, carefully documented, intellectually persuasive perspective, Al-Shabaka is succeeding in centering Palestinians’ experiences, interests, and expertise with respect to Israel’s policies, present and anticipated. Al-Shabaka’s work is also offering courageous thinking that challenges both the existing Israel-Palestine “peace” paradigm (that paved the way for impending annexation) and the failed policies of current Palestinian leaders. 

Recent Publications by Al-Shabaka analysts/members:

Recent webinars featuring Al-Shabaka’s analysts:

Learn more about Al-Shabaka & read its publications:

Website: https://al-shabaka.org/en/  (English)| https://al-shabaka.org/ar/  (Arabic)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alShabakaPalestinianPolicyNetwork

Twitter: @AlShabaka

Subscribe: Click here to sign up for Al-Shabaka’s email list and stay up-to-date on its activities and publications.

Join FMEP in supporting the work of Al-Shabaka by making a charitable contribution today.