The Political Economy of Palestine (with Hussein Aboubakr Mansour)

Egyptian-born analyst Hussein Aboubakr Mansour argues that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a self-sustaining system in which various groups benefit from Palestinian suffering. Drawing on his childhood in an Egypt centered on Palestinian liberation, he explains how Arab regimes, NGOs, Western academics, and Gulf states convert victimhood into political and economic capital. He suggests that breaking this cycle requires more than policy — it demands addressing the human need for meaning that the conflict currently fulfills. Mansour reflects on how identity and narrative lock the conflict in place, and why purely rational solutions fall short.