PLO

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

A Palestinian man casts his ballot during local elections, on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, January 23, 2021. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

What’s at stake as Palestinians go to the polls for the first time in years

With local elections set to take place across the West Bank and one city in Gaza, residents are split as to the vote's legitimacy and potential for change.

By Shatha Yaish and Ibtisam Mahdi April 24, 2026

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

Latest

Israeli soldiers during the First Intifada, in the Gaza Strip, 1987. (Efi Sharir/Dan Hadani Collection, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel)

Why is Gaza so central to the Palestinian struggle?

The history of Gaza illuminates how the tiny enclave has long encapsulated Palestinian identity — and why it is now the focal point of a regional crisis.

By Anne Irfan January 2, 2024

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

Palestinian policemen celebrate upon entering Jericho, one of the first cities handed over to Palestinian Authority control in accordance with the Oslo Accords, May 13, 1994. (Yossi Zamir/Flash 90)

The Oslo trap: How the PLO signed its own death warrant

From asymmetrical concessions to renouncing armed struggle, the fate of the Palestinians was sealed before Arafat and Rabin even shook hands.

By Raef Zreik September 11, 2023

Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia inspects Guard of Honour during Ceremonial Reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, February 20, 2019. (MEAphotogallery / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

What will Saudi-Iran rapprochement mean for the Palestinians?

An accord between Riyadh and Tehran could stymie regional polarization and normalization with Israel. Will Palestinian leaders take advantage of it?

By Omar H. Rahman May 24, 2023

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during an election campaign rally in São Paulo, Brazil, October 1, 2022. (Oliver Kornblihtt/Mídia NINJA)

What does Latin America’s leftist tide have in store for Palestine?

From Brazil to Chile, Palestinians have good reason to be excited for left-wing victories. But the new governments' many challenges may temper those hopes.

By Hussein Sameh January 16, 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

(L to R) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Jordanian King Hussein bin Talal at the White House after signing the Oslo II Agreements, Sept. 28, 1995. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

The colonial idea that built the Palestinian Authority

Israel tried for years to create a body that would control Palestinians on its behalf. It was the liberation movement's leaders that helped it succeed.

By Tariq Dana July 25, 2021

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas casts his vote at the Muqata'a, the Palestinian Authority headquarters, for Fatah's internal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec. 3, 2016. (Flash90)

Why elections are key to re-energizing Palestinian politics

Instead of discouraging voting in the PA elections, Palestinians should use the opportunity to finally shake up their unaccountable political leaders.

By Omar H. Rahman March 15, 2021

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Aug. 22, 2015. (Flash90)

Elections can’t fix the Palestinian Authority

The PA has spent years demobilizing Palestinian society and entrenching its repressive rule. The damage it caused will not be overcome at the ballot box.

By Dana El Kurd February 24, 2021

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech regarding the Middle East peace plan, at the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, January 28, 2020. (Flash90)

The Palestinian leadership chooses captivity

Devoid of strategy, the PA has returned to its role as a subcontractor of the occupation. Luckily, the richest source of Palestinian power is in its grassroots.

By Amjad Iraqi November 21, 2020