On April 25, municipal elections took place across the West Bank and in one municipality in Gaza. Next month, on May 14, Fatah — the main ruling party in the Palestinian Authority — will hold its Eighth General Conference amid internal party divisions. Questions surrounding the significance of last week’s elections, particularly in the context of post-cease-fire Gaza and deepening Israeli control in the West Bank, underscore the crisis of Palestinian political agency.
Please join us for a conversation about the external and internal factors enabling or hampering the emergence of a coherent Palestinian political project and domestically legitimate Palestinian leadership. The discussion will additionally explore the implications for Palestinians, the wider region, and international efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaker Biographies
Jaser AbuMousa
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Tahani Mustafa
Associate Fellow, Middle East Institute
Obada Shtaya
Co-founder and CEO, Institute for Social and Economic Progress
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
سير ذاتية مفصلة للمتحدثين
Jaser AbuMousa is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute. A Palestinian program manager and political analyst with over 20 years of experience leading governance, reconstruction, and conflict-sensitive development in Gaza, Mr. AbuMousa has managed a multi-year Swiss Development Cooperation portfolio and supported United Nations operations in high-risk contexts.
Tahani Mustafa is an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute and a Visiting Fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Mustafa works on issues including security and socio-political and legal governance in the West Bank. Previously, she was Senior Palestine Analyst at the International Crisis Group.
Obada Shtaya is Co-Founder and CEO of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Most recently, he supervised one of the most rigorous political orientation research projects ever done in Palestine to map Palestinian political orientation beyond traditional party lines. As a community organizer and development professional, Mr. Shtaya has led civil society efforts in Palestine, London, and Washington DC.
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen (Moderator) is a Senior Fellow with the Middle East Institute. Prior to joining MEI, she served at the U.S. Institute of Peace for 15 years where she directed its work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. An expert in US diplomatic history in the Middle East, regional conflict dynamics, and civil society peacebuilding efforts, Lucy is a frequent presenter, author and facilitator in a variety of academic, policy, media and dialogue forums.
