The Palestinian society is characterized by a whole bunch of fragmentation’s, geographically, politically, socio-economically, to name only the most striking. While all aspects are equally relevant, it is the socio-economic fragmentation, e.g. the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the decreasing social solidarity, the relationships between the cities, rural areas, and refugee camps, etc., that raises further interest. Resulting from a complex combination of the colonial setting and the neoliberal character of international and domestic policies, the socio-economic fragmentation of Palestinian society is increasingly challenged by social activists, researchers and progressive political parties. Focusing on a selection of topics in this field, e.g. social security policies and social urban development, RLS supports civil society organisations as well as social activists and policy experts in addressing socio-economic fragmentation in the public and political debate and develop and pressure for progressive alternative approaches for social inclusion.
We aim at this field to support networking among organizations, activists, scholars, and other stakeholders in order to develop alternatives and to mobilize against neoliberal privatization policies and to defend & improve the quality & access to public goods (e.g. health, education, water, electricity). Our focus would be on the research, capacity building, raising awareness & networking activities that touch base on the effects of privatization policies as well as the limited access or\ and no access to quality goods on the most marginalized and deprived communities.