Who will lead the Palestinians? This is a question they must be allowed to debate and answer themselves | Dana El Kurd
The current leadership is seen as either absent or illegitimate. A postwar plan must not simply repackage it
- Dana El Kurd is a researcher of Palestinian and Arab politics and a senior nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington
Since the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, much of the world has focused on the immediate impacts of destruction in the strip. The discussion has been focused on which bodies will administer aid, how reconstruction might start, the role of international actors and the terms of the fragile ceasefire.
These are all important issues. But something is missing from this discussion, and from the ceasefire agreement: the Palestinians themselves and their political agency. The following questions also need to be asked. What will happen to the Palestinian national movement in the aftermath of this war? Who will speak for the Palestinians, and negotiate the terms of possible agreements with Israel moving forward? Are the previous frameworks for negotiation even relevant any more?
Dana El Kurd is a researcher of Palestinian and Arab politics and a senior nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington. She is the author of Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine
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