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Opening Session of Annual Palestine Forum 2023
Opening Session of Annual Palestine Forum 2023
Azmi Bishara - Opening Lecture
Azmi Bishara - Opening Lecture
Ayat Hamdan introducing the opening session speakers
Ayat Hamdan introducing the opening session speakers
The audience
The audience
Azmi Bishara giving the opening lecture
Azmi Bishara giving the opening lecture
Audience of the forum
Audience of the forum
Tarek Mitri delivering the Opening Remarks
Tarek Mitri delivering the Opening Remarks
Tarek Mitri
Tarek Mitri
Azmi Bishara
Azmi Bishara
The Forum's Opening Session
The Forum's Opening Session
Opening Session
Opening Session
Session on
Session on "Palestine in Academic/Intellectual Discourse"
Session on
Session on "Palestine in International Law"
Session onS
Session on "Settler Colonialism in Palestine"
Session on
Session on "Palestinian Patterns of Resistance"
Session on
Session on "Security in Palestine: Colonial Security Techniques"
Workshop on
Workshop on "Palestine in Opinion Polls"
Workshop on
Workshop on "Palestinian Division and Reconciliation Prospects"

On Saturday 28 January 2023, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) and the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) launched the first round of the Annual Palestine Forum in Doha. Over 100 academics will present their papers and participate in workshops to discuss different themes related to Palestine studies during the forum. In addition, the forum gathered over 300 attendees who are active in their involvement with the Palestinian cause as activists, journalists, lawyers, politicians, and intellectuals. Due to the large number of attendees, the majority of the forum is being held at the Sheraton Hotel, with some workshops taking place at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The public workshops will be livestreamed on the social media platforms of the ACRPS in English and Arabic.

The forum began with an opening session chaired by the main organizer, Ayat Hamdan, ACRPS Researcher and Editorial Manager of the Ostour journal for historical studies, and included remarks from Tarek Mitri, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Palestine Studies, and an opening lecture by Azmi Bishara, General Director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

Mitri started by thanking the attendants and organizers of the forum and highlighting the partnership between the ACRPS and IPS as being “a natural relationship built on strong pillars.” These pillars are three: the attention both institutions dedicate to the Palestinian cause; that both institutions are Arab institutions that emphasize the centrality of the Palestinian cause for all Arabs, and the intellectual independence of both institutions. Mitri stressed the role of the forum in supporting and strengthening Palestinian national unity.

Bishara then started his lecture by outlining the main reasons for establishing the Annual Palestine Forum, before emphasizing the importance of being persistent in discoursing about the struggle for justice for the Palestinian people at a time of increasing passivity towards, and more recently, blatant normalization with, the occupation on part of regional governments. This is especially true given that this discourse has become hollow through its repetition, and eventual abandonment, by national leaders uninterested in taking any action against the occupation.

Following the opening session, the first session of the Forum began. The first session covered three main themes in sub-sessions which ran in parallel to each other. The themes were: settler colonialism in Palestine, Palestine in international law, and Palestine in the international context. Eleven papers revolving around these themes were presented.

Four papers looked at the first theme and provided different perspectives on the study of settler colonialism. In his paper, “Landlords and Tenants in the Jewish State”, Nadim Rouhana looked at how the surge of far-right Zionist parties in the last elections was accompanied by a resurfacing of the concept of ba’al habayit, a concept that represents the colonizer’s view of themselves as a landlord and of the colonized subject as tenant. Mark Muhanna Ayyash, in a paper titled “Zionism, Nationalism, and Settler Colonialism”, argued for an analysis that looks at Palestinian experience as revealing the logic and nature of Zionism rather than to illustrate “unintended consequences” of the Zionist project. In her paper, “Settler Colonialism and the Erasure of the Other”, Caroline Lund discussed how Israel’s terrorist narrative around Palestinian civil society allows it to legitimize its erasure of the identity of the other. In her paper entitled “Identity Annexation”, Zeina Jallad looked at the selfhood annexation of the Samaritan minority population by the Israeli occupation.

Three papers considered Palestine in international law. Elhoucine Chougran’s paper, “Compensation for Environmental Damages in Occupied Palestine”, highlighted the opportunities offered by international mechanisms for securing the right for Palestinians to live in a sustainable environment. Saif Yousef’s paper titled “The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Right of Return as Enshrined in the UN Resolution No. 194” looked at how durable solutions by the UNHCR can put the Palestinian right of return at risk. Mohamed El Ouadrassi focused on the obstacles that faced ICC investigations in the Palestinian territories in his paper “Constraints on the Application of International Criminal Justice in Palestine.”

Four papers discussed Palestine in the international context. Presenting his paper, titled “Native Struggles against Settler Colonialism”, Michael R. Fischbach detailed Indigenous and Latinx activists’ support for the Palestinians in the US beginning in the 1960s. In a paper titled “The Interconnected Colonial Projects in Palestine and Kashmir”, Abdulla Moaswes highlighted how the world economy benefits from and contributes to the racialization and subjugation of Palestinians and Kashmiris. Nugh Newi Asanga Fon probed the evolving relationship between Israel and Africa from 1950-2022 and the Palestinian response to these changes when presenting his paper, “Complicated Partnership: The Evolving Trajectory of Israeli-African Relations”. Muna Awadallah’s paper, “The Problem of Democracy in Colonial Entities According to John Rawls’ Theory of Justice”, argued against the facade of democracy presented by the settler-colonial regime through a Rawlsian analysis.

The second session of the Forum was centred on three other themes: colonial security in Palestine, Palestinian patterns of resistance, and Palestine in academic/intellectual discourse.

Four papers were presented on colonial security in Palestine. Yousef Munayyer presented his paper “Transnational Repression: The Israeli Repression Network”, which looked at how Israel partners with NGOs to seek repressive outcomes in developing countries targeting dissent against Israeli government policy. Pietro Stefanini presented his paper “COGAT and the Humanitarian Mode of Settler Colonialism”, focusing on the humanitarian aspect of settler colonial governance. Nur Arafeh examined the range of Palestinian presence in the world and tackled the problem of a lack of data on this issue when presenting her paper, “Entrenching Privilege and Promoting Local Agency in Counter-Insurgency”. Areej Sabbagh-Khoury’s paper “Jerusalem, the Settler Colonial Condition, and Anti-Colonial Resilience” focused on methods of control practiced on East Jerusalemites.

Four papers were presented on Palestinian patterns of resistance. Tareq Radi’s paper “No Face, No Case” gave a financial account of indigenous resurgence in response to the imperially enforced insecurity. Khaled Anabtawi presented his paper “A Sociological Perspective on the Dignity Uprising and the Metamorphoses among Palestinians in the 1948 Territories” arguing that the Dignity Uprising was articulated at a point of intersection of a dialectical transformation occurring at three levels. Ahmad As’ad’s paper “Uprisings of Attrition - ‘Your Projects won’t Pass’” presented an analysis of Palestinian resistance patterns from 2013-2022. Mustafa Sheta and Ayman Yousef presented their paper “Reconceptualization of Cultural Resistance in Palestine in the Context of National Theatre”, which looked to relocate the concept of cultural resistance as an authentic part of the contemporary Palestinian national movement.

Four papers were presented on Palestine in academic and intellectual discourse. Ilan Pappe’s paper “Palestine Studies: Achievements and Future Orientations” provided a review of the accomplishments of Palestine Studies over the years and reflected on what should be the focus of future research. Bilal Salaymeh’s paper “How Has Palestine Been Academically Constructed in Turkey?” looked at how Palestine has been constructed in political science departments in Turkey. Abdullah Abulouz looked at the narrative surrounding Palestine and the Palestinians in Saudi Arabian school curricula. Saja Torman presented her paper “Public Policy Research in Palestine under Colonisation” and provided a critical analysis on the discourse of development and institution-building employed by NGOs in Palestine.

In the afternoon, the Forum hosted two workshops. In the first workshop, titled “Palestine in Opinion Polls,” Shibley Telhami focused on the changing attitudes of the American public towards the Palestinian question and the effect this change is having on policymaking. Next, Mohammad Almasri drew on Arab Opinion Index data to illustrate trends in Arab public opinion on the Palestinian cause. The second workshop, titled “Palestinian Division and Reconciliation Prospects”, featured interventions from Mohammad Abu Nimer, Lourdes Habash, and Tamer Qarmout.

The Annual Palestine Forum will continue its proceedings for two more days, following a similar format with sessions running in parallel and two workshops in the evening.