Munaeem's Blog

  One more idea has surfaced in the long and tragic debate over Palestine. It comes from Prof. Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli scholar of Arab society. He argues that the Palestinians may have already exhausted two main paths: nationalism, embodied by the PLO, and Islamism, embodied by Hamas. Both movements promised liberation but delivered only destruction, poverty, and a relentless cycle of bloodshed. Kedar suggests something different, even provocative: a tribal solution. Why Tribal Roots Might Matter Palestinian society, like much of the Arab world, is deeply tribal. Families and clans form the backbone of trust and protection. They mediate disputes, regulate honor, and safeguard livelihoods. Unlike nationalist parties or Islamist factions, tribes have little incentive to sacrifice their members for ideological wars. Their interest lies in stability—because instability harms their own bloodlines. The idea, then, is to build a federation of Palestinian Emirates. Each major city...