As the Palestinian general elections fast approach, many are wondering whether new leadership would create opportunities for self-determined Palestinian economic development.

But with Israel’s ongoing siege, occupation, and fragmentation of Palestinians, and the COVID-19 pandemic crippling the Palestinian leadership’s ability to meet people’s most basic needs, can Palestinians really anticipate significant changes to their daily lives in the months and years ahead? More broadly, what are the impacts of international aid and “economic peace” initiatives on Palestinian aspirations for economic sovereignty, and which policies would actually benefit Palestinians?

In this policy lab, Al-Shabaka analysts Leila Farsakh and Ibrahim Shikaki join host Nadim Bawalsa to discuss these questions and more.

Ibrahim Shikaki is assistant professor of economics at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. He earned his PhD from the New School for Social Research (NSSR) in New York, and held teaching positions at NSSR, The International University College of Turin, Birzeit, and Al-Quds universities.

Leila Farsakh is Associate Professor and Chair of the political science department at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is the author of Palestinian Labor Migration to Israel: Labour, Land and Occupation, and of Rethinking Statehood in Palestine: Self-determination beyond Partition, forthcoming with California University Press.

Nadim Bawalsa is Al-Shabaka’s Commissioning Editor. He is a historian of modern Palestine and has written on the emergence of Palestinian diaspora communities across Latin America in the early twentieth century.

About the Policy Lab Program: Al-Shabaka's Policy Lab Program is an online live-stream space where audiences can engage directly with expert analysts from our nearly 200-member network as they craft policies and strategies related to Palestine. The labs are free and open for public participation, inviting viewers to join in on policy discussions.

Note: This discussion will take place in English. Our policy labs are supported through the generosity of donors. They are free to attend, though we accept contributions on a sliding scale upon registration to help sustain the program.

The opinions of individual members of Al-Shabaka’s policy network do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization as a whole.

The Palestinian Economy: Dependency Under Occupation