Statehood Obsession and Denial of Rights in Palestine

Date and time: June 10, 2020, 1 to 2 pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)

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Speaker: Alaa Tartir, researcher, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies; policy and program adviser, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Moderator: Nadim Houry, executive director, Arab Reform Initiative

The Palestinian political leadership’s obsession with the idea of statehood as a means to realize self-determination and freedom has proved to be detrimental to the struggle of decolonizing Palestine. In a recent article, Alaa Tartir argued that by prioritizing “statehood under colonialism” instead of focusing on decolonizing Palestine first and then engaging in state formation, the Palestinian leadership – under pressure from regional and international actors – disempowered the people and empowered security structures that ultimately serve the colonial condition.

In this webinar, part of the Chatham House project on the future of the state in the Middle East and North Africa, Alaa Tartir will discuss the article’s main arguments through the prism of recent developments in Israeli-Palestinian relations, namely, Israel’s new government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank.