Entry-Points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform

Security sector reform (SSR) is on top of the Palestinian reform agenda. Palestinians want effective and accountable security forces that respond to their security needs. For them, security sector reform is also necessary to advance Palestinian state-building. However, many political organisation and socio-economic challenges make change slow and difficult. Donors sometimes seek to influence the reform process in a direction that servers their own interests and overlook Palestinian needs. Palestinians have their own ideas about reforms that are needed, but often too little is known about what these are.

This book seeks to give a voice to the Palestinians, the intended beneficiaries of security sector reform. Palestinian security experts and practitioners propose concrete changes in the legal framework, the structure of the security forces, the mechanisms for oversight and accountability, and the management of armed groups. By highlighting various entry-points for security sector reform, this collection of Palestinian perspectives is a contribution to a better understanding of Palestinian needs and of the direction in which Palestinians would like to see their security sector evolve.

This book will be of interest to policy-makers, academics, experts and students specialising in Palestinian governance and reform. It will also be of interest for those concerned more generally with state-building and democratisation in the Middle East.

This book is also available in Arabic language

Roland Friedrich is Adviser and Head of the Project "Palestinian Territories" at DCAF. He is the author of "Security Sector Reform in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" (2004) and has written extensively on Palestinian security sector governance and reform.

Arnold Luethold is Senior Fellow at DCAF and Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. He previously worked at the Swiss Federal Department of Justice in Bern and as Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in various postings in the Middle East and in Geneva.