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Civil Society in Palestine

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Abstract

I investigate the origins, status, and prospects of Palestinian civil society through a review of its history before and during the first and second Intifada. I discuss the impact of the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on civil society. The PA had an adverse impact on the structure and function of most civil society organizations, because of either legal or financial pressure. Civil society in Palestine was unable to effectively resist the PA’s control attempts, mostly because of its involvement in the national struggle and its overpoliticization. The attempt is to draw the contours of the road ahead for Palestinian nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations to view the already complex relationship they have with the PA regarding the funding agencies and their local constituencies.

Gratitude to Manar Kawasmi, the research assistant for this chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Birzeit University, Birzeit, West Bank, Palestine

    Samir Awad

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  1. Samir Awad
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universität (FU) Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Gülistan Gürbey

  2. Department of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universität (FU) Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Sabine Hofmann

  3. Mustafa Barzani Section for Kurdish Studies, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany

    Ferhad Ibrahim Seyder

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Awad, S. (2017). Civil Society in Palestine. In: Gürbey, G., Hofmann, S., Ibrahim Seyder, F. (eds) Between State and Non-State. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60181-0_9

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