Abstract
Towards Palestinian Liberation: Global Perspectives on Anti-Colonial Resistance and Solidarity [Book Launch]
While awareness and global solidarity with Palestine have grown, mainstream frameworks often remain narrowly focused. Common approaches typically confine the issue to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, or reduce solidarity to a matter of human rights and international law violations. Although engaging formal institutions to end Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and occupation is a necessary strategy, such a focus can inadvertently depoliticize the Palestinian struggle. It frequently overlooks the foundational settler-colonial nature of the Israeli state, the unwavering material and ideological support it receives from Western powers, and Palestine’s profound significance within broader historical and contemporary anti-colonial movements.
The ongoing Western-backed genocide has starkly revealed the political divergence between the West and the Global South. In contrast to institutional complicity and failure, the enduring legacy of anti-colonial solidarity across the Global South has resurfaced as a vital force. As liberal international systems prove ineffective, rebuilding and strengthening transnational solidarity networks has become an urgent imperative to halt the genocide and achieve a liberated Palestine. A deeper understanding requires a framework that connects Palestine to wider regional dynamics, global power structures, and the long arc of anti-colonial resistance. Towards Palestinian Liberation is an edited volume that reaffirms the Palestinian struggle as an intersectional and transnational anti-colonial fight. Bringing together diverse perspectives from scholars and activists worldwide, this collection moves beyond mainstream narratives. It explores the interconnectedness of global struggles, examines the role of economic and political interests, and critically assesses the opportunities and challenges facing international solidarity movements.
Invited Speakers
Hamza Hamouchene
Hamza Hamouchene is an Algerian researcher and activist. He is currently the Arab Region Programme Coordinator at the Transnational Institute (TNI). He is the author/editor of five books: Towards Palestinian Liberation: Global Perspectives on Anti-Colonial Resistance & Solidarity (2026), Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region (2023), The Arab Uprisings: A Decade of Struggles (2022), The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb (2017), and The Coming Revolution in North Africa: The Struggle for Climate Justice (2015).
Moderated by
Gert Van Hecken
Gert Van Hecken is an associate professor at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, and an associate researcher at Nitlapan-UCA, Nicaragua. His research and teaching focus on the politics of knowledge in global environmental policies, critically analysing processes of green colonialism and uneven development, with a particular emphasis on how communities and social movements resist capitalism and colonialism. He is actively involved in organizing solidarity actions for Palestine, working alongside students and staff across universities.