Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Initiatives

Al-Shabaka is opposed to Israeli policy in Palestinian territories. In a February 2024 statement, its leadership called the Israel-Hamas war a “genocide campaign” against Palestinians in Gaza. ² The group also expressed a commitment to fighting white supremacy and colonization around the world. ²

Al-Shabaka shares its views through frequent webinars, media appearances, and op-eds in the U.S. and internationally. ³

Scholars

Al-Shabaka claims over 200 analysts working for them around the world. One of the most prominent is Salem Barahmeh, a former executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and former employee of the Palestinian mission to the U.S. and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). ⁴ He is also the founder and director of Uncivilized Media, which produces videos of Palestinian protests and storytelling in support of the Palestinian cause. ⁵

Another is Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), two organizations that call for boycotts of Israel and Israeli institutions. Barghouti is on record denouncing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling for an end to the Jewish state. ⁶

2023 Rebranding

In 2023, Al-Shabaka leadership announced a new vision with greater focus on political movements within Palestinian territories as opposed to appeals to international law. At the time, Al-Shabaka leadership said that the Palestinian elite had in some cases become oppressors themselves, and their policy goals would be better achieved by working from the ground up instead of simply appealing to international bodies. ⁷

Leadership

Nadia Hijab is the founder of Al-Shabaka and former board chair. She is designated honorary board president and works as an advisor. She is also co-founder and co-chair of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, which works to diminish Israel’s geopolitical influence and curb U.S. support for the Jewish state. ⁸

As of March 2024, Tareq Baconi was Al-Shabaka’s board president. He is the book review editor for the Journal of Palestine Studies and the author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance, published in 2018. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, and often writes pieces critiquing Israeli policy towards Palestine, describing the Palestinians in the West Bank as living under “apartheid.” ⁹

Megan Driscoll and Yara Hawari are co-directors of Al-Shabaka. Driscoll has worked for Al-Shabaka since 2015 and previously worked in Palestine in a series of development and advocacy roles, including a communications role at the Palestinian Counseling Center (PCC). In 2015, she wrote for This Week in Palestine describing the psychological oppression that Palestinians living in Jerusalem experienced. ¹⁰ Hawari previously worked as a Palestine policy fellow, and holds a Ph.D. in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter, where she teaches.  Hawari is frequently published in the Guardian, Foreign Policy, and Al Jazeera English. ¹⁰

Financials

Al-Shabaka is registered in California as “The Middle East Policy Network.” The organization took in $351,621 in revenue in 2022, and spent $626,043, with $495,691 in assets at the end of that year. In 2021, it took in $619,034 and spent $334,735. ¹¹ The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is a major donor, providing $455,000 in support from 2021 through 2023. ¹²