Inès Abdel Razek — Co-Director, Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD)
“The only people who can liberate ourselves are the Palestinians. But the obstacles to that are international.”
While headlines focus on state-level conflicts, the real levers of power and change often lie elsewhere. When official diplomatic channels fail and international institutions lose their credibility, where do people turn for justice and liberation?
I sat down with Inès Abdel Razek, co-director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, to discuss the deep-rooted challenges facing the Palestinian people. In our conversation, she dismantled common narratives surrounding the conflict and revealed how decades of Israeli colonial policy have intentionally fragmented Palestinian society — and why the international community’s complicity is the single biggest obstacle to peace.
What We Cover
The core strategy of fragmentation Israel has used for over 77 years to control the Palestinian people, creating vastly different realities from Gaza to the West Bank to the diaspora.
Why the institutions created to represent Palestinians — like the PLO and the Palestinian Authority — are no longer seen as legitimate by many of the people they claim to serve.
The rise of “people’s diplomacy” and how civil society, grassroots groups, and international alliances are filling the political vacuum left by traditional leadership.
How international complicity — from US military aid to Colombian coal exports — directly fuels the Israeli colonial project and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Why the recent push by European countries to recognize a Palestinian state might be a counterproductive distraction that shields Israel from accountability.
How the digital world has become a double-edged sword: a crucial tool for amplifying Palestinian voices and a weapon of surveillance, censorship, and repression.
Powerful Words
“What we’re asking for is — can we decide for ourselves? Can you let us liberate ourselves? Can you let us build a free country?”
“The EU has completely lost credibility with its double standards when it comes to applying rules, international law, rules of engagement or any order.”
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