Palestinian NGOs as effective development actorsIntroductionOver the past 60 years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become one of the most dominant phenomena worldwide, affecting development paradigms and processes in developed countries. countries as well as in the developing world. Certainly, NGOs play an important role in supporting different aspects of development, such as promoting democratization, empowering civil society or resource management. However, this phenomenon needs to be critically analyzed in order to examine its real position, legitimacy and practical impact on promoting sustainable development on the ground. Searching for the conditions that make NGOs effective and play a vital role in development is not an easy process. The debatable issue of achieving sustainable development is generating growing controversy over the contribution of NGOs to this process. Additionally, the fact that NGOs around the world differ from each other in their objectives, implementation and organizational structures makes the task more complex. Therefore, it is important to clarify that in this article the term NGO is intended to refer to local non-governmental development organizations that operate in their own developing countries. Adopting the case of the NGO sector in Palestine, the article will examine the proliferation of NGOs and their influence on different social groups meant to be empowered and represented by NGOs. Additionally, their impact on civil society through the creation of a new middle class of “NGO people”. This phenomenon of “NGOization”, which has been termed by different researchers in the NGO literature, should be critically analyzed to explore its consequences on nation and state building, in addition.... .. middle of article...... (October)Jad, I., 2007, NGOs: between buzzwords and social movements, development in practice, Taylor & Francis Ltd, Vol. 17, n° 4-5, pp. 622-629, (August) Ladadwa, H., 2010, interview conducted by Ibraheem Nassar, (March) Nassar, I., 2010 The illusion of development under occupation: the political motivations of donors ' AidMA'AN Development Center, 2011 , Matrix of Control: Conditional Funding on Palestinian NGOs, Position Paper, Ramallah-Palestine, (August) Martinussen, J. and Pedersan, J., 2003, Aid: Understanding International Development Cooperation, translated by Marie Bille, Zed Books LtdPearce, J ., 2000, “Development, NGOs and civil society: the debate and its future”, in Jenny Pearce (Introducer), Development NGOs and civil society: selected essays from Development in Practice, Deborah Eade (Editor), A Development in Practice Reader, Oxfam GB, pp...15-43