Mada al-Carmel – The Arab Center for Applied Social Research is an independent Palestinian research center founded in 2000 in the city of Haifa. It provides a critical academic space dedicated to producing both theoretical and applied knowledge on Palestine, Palestinians inside the Green Line, and Israel, from an anti-colonial perspective. Mada is committed to promoting the social and political empowerment of Palestinian society by conducting in-depth research in the social sciences and humanities, public policy analysis, and applied studies, endeavoring to transcend dominant epistemological narratives shaped by colonial power structures.

Mada al-Carmel strives to build a critical, knowledge-based Palestinian society and to create space for alternative research that questions prevailing political, social, and cultural power structures, while also seeking to reshape fields of knowledge to reflect the Palestinian experience. Mada further serves as an academic incubator for a new generation of Palestinian researchers, nurturing their ability to think critically and produce knowledge that engages with regional and global intellectual and political debates on settler colonialism, identity, nationalism, the decolonization of knowledge, citizenship, and social justice.

Over the years, Mada has established itself as a leading intellectual and research authority on the study of Palestinian society inside the Green Line and its relationship with Israel. In the process, it has become a shared space for academic and cultural communities, new generations of intellectual and political actors, and a wide range of research and cultural institutions. Through its theoretical and applied research, as well as its diverse projects and activities, Mada fosters knowledge production on Palestinians in the local, regional, and global academic spheres, as an influential voice in contemporary intellectual and political debates.