The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Institute for Palestine Studies are organizing the fourth Annual Palestine Forum, from 24-26 January 2026. The Forum is an academic initiative that has contributed to the production of in-depth scholarly knowledge on Palestine, with the majority of its papers published in Arab and international academic journals. Now an annual tradition, the Forum creates a space for dialogue and the exchange of perspectives among researchers and activist practitioners in Palestine and in solidarity movements around the world.
This fourth installment of the Forum comes after the passage of more than two years since the onset of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. This has been accompanied by a wide-scale escalation in the West Bank, including the besiegement of cities and refugee camps, the destruction of infrastructure and housing, and forced displacement. Israel has also expanded its aggression to include attacks on Lebanon and the occupation of additional parts of Syrian territory.
Over the previous three editions of the Forum (2023–2025), the organizing committee received more than 1,300 research proposals, of which 220 peer-reviewed papers were accepted and presented in specialized sessions. The Forum has hosted Palestinian and international researchers and scholars from across the world. In the current installment, the committee reviewed 470 research proposals, of which 220 were accepted, and, following rigorous triple peer-review, 83 selected for presentation in specialized sessions. The papers will be presented across sessions according to their respective themes and subject areas.
The Forum sessions address the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, Western media bias in covering it, as well as analyses related to the specificities of settler colonialism and the apartheid regime in Palestine, and international law. They also examine the international ramifications of the Palestine question, particularly in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, alongside Arab and global solidarity on both the official and popular levels. Several sessions explore Israeli security doctrine and policies of regional expansion, in addition to deconstructing Western knowledge production on Palestine through critical readings of academic research in Western universities. The Forum also offers an analysis of prevailing research trends on Palestine and the impact of two years of genocide on education. Further sessions are devoted to discussing the role of international institutions during the genocidal war on Gaza, and the role of foreign aid in reshaping the Palestinian economy through different analytical models. The Forum likewise engages with fundamental issues, such as settlement expansion, refugees, Jerusalem, and other approaches linked to the developments of the current phase. This edition also dedicates a thematic track to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, in which Palestinian visions and approaches are presented by a number of experts.
The Forum also includes evening symposia focusing on political approaches to the post-genocide phase and international roles, particularly that of the United States and global solidarity movements, as well as a special symposium discussing the future of the Palestinian national project in light of the current regional and international challenges.
* Timetable of the 2026 Annual Palestine Forum.
** Booklet of the 2026 Annual Palestine Forum.
