Amid intensifying debates over Gaza’s reconstruction and the future of Palestinian leadership, the fourth annual Palestine Forum concluded in Doha Tuesday (January 27) with calls to rebuild the Palestinian national project on liberation and democratic foundations.
Organised by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in cooperation with the Institute for Palestine Studies, the forum brought together hundreds of researchers and participants from around the world for research sessions, workshops, and a public seminar.
Discussions focused on renewing the Palestinian national project, reconstruction frameworks for the Gaza Strip, and the political and strategic transformations shaping the “day after” phase.
The forum concluded with a public seminar titled “The Future of the Palestinian National Project,” moderated by Ayat Hamdan. Ahmad Azam presented a paper examining the challenges of political reconstruction in the post-war period, while Hani AlMasri addressed the crisis of leadership and representation, as well as the limitations of existing political approaches.
Laila Farsakh explored the future of the Palestinian national movement beyond a state-centric framework, arguing for the development of an alternative liberation project. Tariq Hamoud discussed the challenges facing Hamas in both resistance and governance in the post-war context.
In parallel, the third workshop, “Toward Palestinian Frameworks for Reconstruction in the Gaza Strip,” featured a session on “Food Sovereignty and Livelihoods in Gaza: Local Alternatives for Reconstruction,” chaired by Ihab Muharmeh.
Siham Matallah examined Gaza’s entrenched reconstruction challenges, while Ahmed Abu Hanie and Halima Abu Haneya presented policy proposals to enhance food security through hydroponic agriculture and biogas.
A roundtable titled “Whose Security? Towards Palestinian Protection,” chaired by Mai Abu Moghli, addressed post-war security and local governance challenges. The workshop concluded with a final roundtable, “Reconstruction: From Extraction to Recovery,” chaired by Lara Khattab, which called for a shift from technical solutions to liberation-oriented frameworks driven by Palestinian priorities.
Meanwhile, the sixth and seventh sessions explored themes including memory and genocide, regional security, Arab solidarity, resistance through poetry, mental health under genocide and settler colonialism, Jerusalem between history and the colonial present, and the evolving dynamics of Palestinian society and the economy since 7 October. The forum concluded with a session titled “Solidarity Economy in Palestine: Towards a Resilient Development Model that Promotes Economic Independence.”