This is a conversation with Dana El Kurd. She is a Palestinian academic who specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. Dana works as a researcher at the Arab  Center for Research and Policy Studies and as an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

We spoke about her most recent book “Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine” published by Hurst.

Topics Discussed

• Authoritarianism within the Palestinian Authority (PA)
• The role of the US
• The legacy of the Oslo Accords
• The Arab Spring and their link to Palestine
• How long-term authoritarianism impacts societies
• Polarization and Demobilization since Oslo
• The relationship between the Israeli occupation and the PA
• The 2006 Elections
• The difference between PA, PNA, PLO and Fatah
• On NGOization
• The Abraham Accords
• Tankie rhetoric
• How regional authoritarians (Hezbollah, Assad, Iran) are perceived in Palestine
• Different generational shifts
• Reforming the PLO

Recommended Books

• How Social Movements Die: Repression and Demobilization of the Republic of New Africa by Christian Davenport
• State of Repression: Iraq under Saddam Hussein by Lisa Blaydes
• Inside the Battle of Algiers: Memoir of a Woman Freedom Fighter by Zohra Drif

And I mentioned:

• A region in revolt: Mapping the recent uprisings in North Africa and West Asia