This is not the first time that President Mahmoud Abbas has called for elections, whether for the Palestinian National Council, the Palestinian Legislative Council or the presidency. On every...

Peace negotiations have been pushed to the verge of disappearance which suggests that a solution will continue to be delayed

Senior Israeli officials who are against a two-state solution

In 1993, the Oslo accords launched a transitional process that was supposed to end in May 1999 with a Palestinian state in all of the West Bank, including Jerusalem,...

Al-shabaka policy brief Overview U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s highly publicized efforts to foster negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Oslo...

Introduction According to international law and even the Israeli legal system, no one should be detained for their political beliefs. However, this is not the reality in the occupied...

Introduction The idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, which first emerged four decades ago, has resurfaced in recent months and is creating something of a controversy. The origins of the...

,p>Prior to Operation Pillar of Defence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party Likud had been declining in popularity. Netanyahu was also threatened by an opposition alliance of the former...

The EU-Israel Association Agreement is the legal framework upon which relations between Israel and the European Union are based. It was signed in 1995 and came into effect in...

Introduction The status of prisoners of war is a very complicated issue in international humanitarian law. Many people think – wrongly – that all of the Palestinian prisoners in...

Zionist political thought continues to propose projects based on the eradication of the Palestinians as a people or, at the very least, their marginalisation inside the state of Israel....

Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem has for all intents and purposes strangled its Arab population. The restrictive policies enforced in; construction, planning, land appropriation, investment in infrastructure and services are...

Introduction – Who, or what, is Shin Bet? Known at different times by various names (the General Security Service , the Israeli Security Agency , Shabak], Shin Bet is...

A Caabu Briefing Paper 1. Introduction 1.1 The Oslo Accords which were intended to lead to peace between Israelis and Palestinians were signed as long ago as 1993. Yet...

There has been much talk over the past ten years about the “new Middle East” which America has called for. This US project is based around four main areas:...

The Israeli government sets a state budget which is allocated to all sectors of society. Claims of economic discrimination are rife given the disparity in living conditions between Palestinian...

Following the leak of some 1600 documents a selection known as the Palestine Papers were released by Al Jazeera and the Guardian newspaper; they highlight previously unknown details relating...

Briefing Paper – October 2010By Sawsan Ramahi Hebron is one of the oldest cities in Palestine, perhaps one of the oldest in the world, and is located in the...

Briefing Paper – September 2010 A step towards another historic handshake, perhaps, but not necessarily a solution. Preamble The latest round of Middle East “peace talks” is under way....

Briefing Paper – June 2010By Sawsan Ramahi Racism was, and still is, an inherent feature of Zionism and the state established on its back, Israel. From its declaration of...

Briefing Paper – June 2010 An overview of the Christian presence in Palestine The estimated number of Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem is...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) The last decade has seen some major welcome developments by the international community to promote universal justice and human rights. This is manifest, for...

Briefing Paper – June 2010 “Israel has enjoyed strong economic growth over the last decade, but the benefits of this are being distributed unevenly. Poverty rates are higher than in...

Briefing Paper – April 2010 Last month, Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, outlined a new foreign policy framework for a future Conservative government to an audience at RUSI –...

Briefing Paper – Mar 2010 By Sawsan Ramahi Background Land Day is considered to be a milestone in the history of the Palestinian struggle. It is the day when...

  Palestinians in Israel’s ‘democracy’: The Judaization of the Galilee   Briefing Paper – Mar 2010 By Ben White Summary Points  The ‘Judaization of the Galilee’ refers to Israeli...

Briefing Paper – Mar 2010By Sawsan Ramahi World Water Day is upon us. Initiated by the United Nations in 1992 during its Conference on Environment and Development, 22 March...

Briefing Paper – Feb 2010 Key Points Israel’s continued threats and belligerence toward its neighbouring states could plunge the region into all-out war. Given the current regional dynamics, it...

Briefing Paper – Mar 2010The March/April 2010 addition of Foreign Affairs1 features an article entitled ‘Armistice Now’ written by the Lafer International Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East...

IntroductionPalestinian civil society in the Occupied West Bank today faces one of its most daunting challenges in decades. Saddled with a military occupation Palestinians must also contend with an...

Briefing Paper – Dec 2009 After last month’s astonishing speculation about a breakthrough in the prisoner exchange negotiations between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza and Israel, it...

The people of Gaza have been suffering for more than two years now under an illegal siege put in place by Israel.  This siege has been aided and abetted...