Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinians vote during the Palestinian local elections, in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, April 25, 2026. (Flash90)

A dubious PA election could be the political opening Palestine needs

Driven by international pressure that lets Israel off the hook, the upcoming vote still gives Palestinians a rare chance to confront an obstinate leadership.

By Omar H. Rahman August 10, 2026

Omar Rahman. (Courtesy)

PODCAST: The cost of a failed Palestinian leadership

As Palestinians face existential threats but also maintain unprecedented global support, Omar Rahman examines why their politics are more broken than ever.

By +972 Magazine June 11, 2026

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures to the crowd as he takes part in a rally marking the 28th anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City, December 14, 2015. (Emad Nassar/Flash90)

From Gaza to Ramallah, Haniyeh remembered as advocate of national unity

The assassinated leader was a proponent of Hamas’ political engagement and pursued Palestinian reconciliation at home and in exile, admirers say.

By Fatima AbdulKarim and Mohammed R. Mhawish August 1, 2024

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in Ramallah, January 31, 2023. (State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain)

Fed up with absent leadership, Palestinians yearn for political unity

While the PA tries to assert itself in Gaza’s ‘day after,’ its inability to confront Israeli attacks has brought its legitimacy to an all-time low in the West Bank.

By Fatima AbdulKarim January 4, 2024

Palestinians protest against Israel in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, October 18, 2023. (Flash90)

As Gaza war rages, West Bank faces violent collective punishment

With all eyes on Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank are beginning to seethe, caught between outrage at the strip's destruction, spiraling Israeli settler and army violence, and silence from their leaders.

By Fatima AbdulKarim October 19, 2023

Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi, seen in her office in the West Bank city of Ramallah. January 31, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

‘I told Arafat: Israel will promise you an inch and not give you a millimeter’

Reflecting on the Oslo Accords 30 years later, veteran politician Hanan Ashrawi recounts her arguments with PLO leaders during the negotiations, and explains why Israel's political crisis is opening cracks in the occupation.

By Meron Rapoport September 13, 2023

Palestinians hold a vigil in memory of Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City, May 11, 2022. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills)

What 2022 taught Palestinians

The past year proved that Israel's impunity on the international stage knows no bounds. But looking ahead to 2023, there are still reasons to be hopeful.

By George Zeidan January 1, 2023

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas taking part in a prayer ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Ramallah, West Bank, July 6, 2015. (Flash90)

Abbas is signaling a successor. But will Palestinians accept him?

The nepotistic rise of Hussein al-Sheikh, the PA's key liaison with Israel, is emblematic of much that is wrong with the Palestinian leadership.

By Omar H. Rahman June 21, 2022

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar seen at a rally in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, May 30, 2021. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)

The misguided promise of assassinating Hamas leaders

The growing calls in Israel to assassinate Yahya Sinwar are a symptom of a much deeper political crisis, for which Israel only has itself to blame.

By Menachem Klein May 12, 2022

Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel protest in Tel Aviv against police inaction and surging crime and violence in Arab communities, March 13, 2021. (Flash90)

Why Israel wants Palestinians to have guns

From criminal gangs in Lyd to security forces in Ramallah, Palestinians who turn their guns on each other are serving Israel's apartheid rule.

By Rami Younis September 8, 2021

Palestinians take part in a protest over the killing of activist Nizar Banat, in the West Bank city of Hebron, July 2, 2021. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

PA admits fault for activist’s death — then continues assaults on critics

The Palestinian Authority has taken responsibility for Nizar Banat's killing, but its crackdown has only escalated since, in some cases amounting to torture.

By Dima Abumaria July 27, 2021

Palestinians protest the death of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat who died after being arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 24, 2021. (Flash90)

The PA stumbled from one failure to another. Has its reckoning arrived?

The decades-long decline of the Fatah party has proven to Palestinians that the PA is an obstacle, not a vehicle, for their national liberation.

By Majeed Malhas July 13, 2021

Palestinians protest the death of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat who died after being arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 24, 2021. (Flash90)

Palestinians demand Abbas step down after death of Nizar Banat

The activist and critic of the Palestinian Authority died of 'unnatural' causes after his violent arrest, in the latest PA crackdown on dissent.

By Dima Abumaria June 25, 2021