PhD student at QUB School of Law and recipient of Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership, Tamara Tamimi, has recently co-authored a journal article as part of a team of Palestinians affiliated with Al-Quds Human Rights Clinic of Al-Quds University for the Development in Practice journal’s “Do No Harm/Conflict Sensitivity” Special Issue on Conflict Sensitivity/DNH in Development, Humanitarian & Peacebuilding Practice- a Taylor and Francis publication. The article, entitled “Depoliticised Humanitarianism: Critiquing the Effectiveness of International Aid for the Bedouin Communities in the Jerusalem Periphery”, is authored by Osama Risheq, Raghad Adwan, and Dr Munir Nuseibah, alongside Tamimi.

The article was supported by Arts and Humanities Research Council project “Palestinian Bedouin at Risk of Forced Displacement: IHL Vulnerabilities, ICC Possibilities” [grant number AH/T007540/1], administered by Principal investigator Alice Panepinto of Queen’s University Belfast, and Co-investigators Munir Nuseibah of Al-Quds University, Brendan Browne of Trinity College Dublin, and Triestino Mariniello of Liverpool John Moores University.  

The article addresses several topical dimensions that seek to critically reflect on the efficacy of humanitarian and developmental aid disbursed to Bedouin communities in the Jerusalem periphery. To this end, the article considers the framework in which aid is disbursed, diagnosing that this is done in a depoliticised manner that severely compromises on its effectiveness. Specifically, this section considers how aid is i) disbursed in a post-conflict modality, ii) focuses on practical and humanitarian needs rather than political and strategic aspirations, iii) mitigates symptoms of Israeli-settler colonialism instead of addressing its root causes, iv) lacks political protection from Israeli settler colonial and annexationist policy, and v) is quantitatively insufficient. Further, the article takes the argument of the ineffectiveness of aid one step further in demonstrating the harmful aspects of aid to Palestinians in entrenching the Israeli occupation and advancing settler colonialism.

Tamara expressed her excitement on this publication, adding “it is an honour to publish this article in a highly distinguished journal at this early stage in my academic career. I hope this will be a step towards many other publications that highlight the plight of Palestinians under Israeli settler colonialism”.

The article can be accessed at the website of the publisher on the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DDS7EK3P99PXKP5ZIRRN/full?target=10.1080%2F09614524.2023.2215968&fbclid=IwAR1peAta3H4yFjK0KLxlIagvZcEsz_BOAg74Y_yPmQBsWhJBT-oWrbN5RBY.

You can find out more about the project here: https://palestine-bedouin.qub.ac.uk/