The Wall Street Journal recently published what I consider to be a very significant piece about a letter signed by five influential Hebron sheikhs, led by Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari who wish to join the Abraham Accords,. These sheikhs want to cut ties with the corrupt Palestinian Authority and establish a self-governing “emirate” “in partnership with Israel. In return, they want peace and full recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
The idea of having the Palestinians in West Bank establishing a series of emirates was first proposed a number of years ago by Mordechai Kedar a Middle East expert who speaks Arabic fluently. Kedar, who I have met before while in Israel a number of years ago, has indicated that that since Palestinians are a tribal society, it makes sense to form a series of smaller emirates based on clans in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), similar to the model of the United Arab Emirates, which are successful and stable entities. The idea is that each city in the West Bank such as Ramallah and Jenin could become its own autonomous state, governed by the dominant clan of that area. This is what Keidar has coined “The 8 state solution”, as the West Bank would be broken into 8 small emirates. Keider prefers this solution over a two state solution, which he belives would be run by the corrupt Palestinian authority, which would not root out terror and produce economic returns for West Bank Palestinians.
I have wondered why five of the most prominent Arab sheikhs in Hebron -who are from the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank – have raised their voices in favour of Hebron becoming an Emirate, Maybe they have seen how Hamas and the PA have failed to deliver anything tangible to their people and fear that if Hamas were to take power in the West Bank it could lead to another war with Israel, which could leave the West Bank becoming the next Gaza.
These sheiks are traditional clan leaders, rooted in the Arab-Muslim cultural fabric of the West Bank and maybe they have raised their voices now since Trump is in power and is not wedded to a two state solution as Joe Biden was, and is willing to think out of the box. Maybe the sheiks recognize the Palestinian Authority will never truly reform and with its culture of death and its tyrannical rule, and commitment to terror it will only leave the West Bank in economic and political ruin. Maybe they have raised their voices now as they do not want Hebron to become a satelite of Iran.
These sheik’s want to live, work and be part of a success story.—they could trade with both Israel and Jordan. Maybe they have spoken now because the sheiks understand that the two state solution is dead and any PA state would ultimately become a terror state run by Hamas and Islamic Jihad who have been trying to flood the West Bank with weapons through the porous border with Jordan.
If these sheiks they have spoken out, one wonders if there are other Arab leaders in the West Bank who agree with them, and who may yet speak out?
Rather than Western nations, including Canada, throwing more and more economic bailouts to the corrupt Palestinian Authority, Western nations ought to consider the voices of these five sheiks who reject the PA’s thuggery, it’s quelling of dissent, and it’s utter failure in bringing a better life to is citizens. If Palestinian cities would become emirates, self-governing and independent, similar to Dubai or Abu Dhabi that would be a game changer in the Middle East. The decentralization involved in the “Emirates solution’ would enable each Palestinian clan to thrive within its own governance structure, and increase stability in the region.
