Humanitarianism Under Occupation | Ghassan Al Sheikh on Jenin, Aid, and Resistance

Why does the humanitarian system seem more comfortable managing Palestinian suffering than confronting the structures producing it?In this episode of Aiding and Abetting, Tom Colley speaks with Ghassan Al Sheikh, Executive Director of Al Majd Community Development Association in Jenin, about life in the northern West Bank under occupatio, and the growing sense that much of the world has stopped paying attention.From military raids and displacement to the psychological toll of permanent insecurity, the conversation explores the quieter violence shaping daily life in places like Jenin and Tulkarem. But it also goes further, interrogating the contradictions of the international aid system itself: the gap between rhetoric and action, the failures of localisation, and the uncomfortable reality that humanitarian organisations often operate within, rather than challenge, the structures creating crisis.This is a conversation about dignity, solidarity, mutual aid, and resistance, not only political resistance, but the daily act of keeping communities alive under conditions designed to exhaust and force them to leave their land.Please find more information about Al Majd Community Development Association here: https://www.facebook.com/ALMAJDSOCIETY/ Al Majd do not have a fundraising platform for themselves, but Ghassan has asked if donations can be sent via Karama's crowdfunding site: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/karama-solidarity-network Aiding & Abetting is a podcast about the politics, power, and contradictions of humanitarian aid.Hosted by humanitarian worker and researcher Tom Colley, the series explores how aid really works, who benefits from it, and why efforts to help can sometimes reinforce the inequalities they seek to address.Through conversations with aid workers, activists, researchers, and community leaders, the podcast examines the colonial legacies, political interests, and institutional incentives that shape humanitarian response today.Produced by Karama, a network supporting locally led mutual aid initiatives across conflict-affected regions, Aiding & Abetting offers an honest, critical look at humanitarianism and explores what a more accountable, community-led future could look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.