A Palestinian Political Solution

Part 2 - The Confederated Emirates of Palestine

If the nation-state route is not a solution to the issue of Palestinian self-rule and if we want to tap into the Arab social and political tradition in order to produce a long-lasting solution that will not lead to civil war (let alone a terror war against Israel), where can we go?

We spoke last time (A Palestinian Political Solution-Part 1) about Arab tradition being family and tribe based – or to use the Arab word – Hamula.    The Hamula is an extended family or clan but in the Arab world is really much broader.  It is usually generations of extended family with distant cousins living in proximity.  The larger Hamulas can extend to many thousands of people.   They are based on blood, loyalty, religion and power.   And of course, money.

Dr. Mordecai Kedar of Bar Ilan University has offered a solution that conforms to the Arab political tradition and can, if implemented correctly allow the Palestinians to rule themselves in the West Bank and Gaza without the need to setup a true Western style nation-state.    It is a plan that he has called either the “Eight State Solution” or the Emirate Solution but we will refer here to the Confederated Emirates of Palestine.  I give all credit to Kedar for this solution and I will try to describe it as best as possible with some ideas of my own that I will throw in. 

The Solution

The Confederated Emirates of Palestine (CEP) will consist of seven separate fully autonomous entities, with Sovereignty based in a Consultative Council that can issue passports, manage international relations and have a seat at the UN (for whatever that is worth).   Each of the major cities in the West Bank:  Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Arab Hebron (the eight in his solution is Gaza, we will deal with that at the end) will be run initially by the major Hamulas in their cities.   They can setup any government structure they feel meets the needs of their people.    There will be additional land added on to these Emirates to allow for natural, growth, agriculture and industry.   If there are Jewish towns or villages that need to be moved, they will be moved to a different area of the West Bank.  The land between these Emirates will consist of Jewish towns and villages, smaller Palestinian villages and open areas, all of which will be sovereign Israeli territory and Israeli civil law will apply.  Allowance can be made for the smaller Palestinian villages in this area to opt for a Confederated Emirates of Palestine passport and free entry into the Emirates, or to be full Israeli citizens.

Civil Administration

Each Emirate will have autonomy as to its own civil laws and tax policy. This will include all civil and criminal law, incorporation of businesses, partnerships and any other form of commercial activity that they want.   They can set sales, Value Added and income taxes and will have their own civil and criminal courts and manage all local affairs.   Each Emirate can further subdivide itself into small governmental units if it feels that is necessary for better governance. 

As for trade between the Emirates of the CEP, this will be a free trade zone strengthening the economic base of each Emirate.   A free trade agreement with Israel, Jordan the EU and the US will be part of the final agreement to assure that CEP products be competitive in foreign markets. 

International Relations and Foreign Trade

While each Emirate will take responsibility for local governance and laws and will be able to form its own institutions, for the purpose of foreign trade a port will be setup in Israel and operated by the CEP with security and inspection provided by Israel in order to assure no illegal weapons are shipped.  Alternatively, or additionally, a similar arrangement can be signed with Jordan for use of their port in Aqaba on the Red Sea.  Fast rail arrangements can be made directly from each Emirate to the Amman and Ben-Gurion airports to facilitate international travel. 

For International relations itself the CEP Consultative Council, as a sovereign Palestinian body can setup embassies, belong to international organizations, sign treaties that are not related to security, and do whatever else any sovereign state can do.  

Local Law Enforcement

For security, each Emirate will be responsible for local law enforcement, giving Israel the right to pursue terrorists into their territory with notification to the specific Emirate police force.   This right can be fazed out over years with each Emirate separately, depending on its ability to maintain law and order and prevent terror from sprouting from its territory.  We have to remember that a Palestinian political entity must serve the real needs of the Palestinian people without infringing on the lives of Israeli citizens.  Zero-tolerance for terror is the only way the Palestinians can gain control of their lives because it’s the only way it can keep the Israeli security forces (and Palestinian security forces) out of their lives.

Economics and Banking

If the CEP decides it wants to issue its own currency and have a unified banking system this will be its option.  It can form a central bank to set interest rates and money supply policy and charter banks that can work in each autonomous Emirate.    The banks should be able to use all international systems like Swift and the currency should be freely convertible in order to facilitate foreign trade.  A close connection with Israeli banks would increase the CEP’s economic strength.

Alternatively, the CEP could decide to use the US Dollar, the Euro or even the Israeli Shekel as legal tender if it feels this is more efficient.  In any event, a banking system that works across all the CEP autonomous Emirates will be necessary.   

The CEP would also setup a stock exchange in order to facilitate capital formation and issue government bonds.  Each Emirate would also have the ability to issue their own debt.   The CEP will not tax Palestinian residents of each Emirate but the Emirates themselves will directly fund it with its tax and other revenues.   

Security

The CEP will not have any national security force but each Emirate will have its own police force in order  to maintain law and order.   The security of all the Emirates can be guaranteed against foreign invasion by agreement of the EU, US, Israel and the Arab Gulf states that have diplomatic relations with Israel.  

This lack of an army is an infraction against the CEP’s sovereignty but is necessary in order to keep Israel  and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan safe.   So too, the lack of a CEP security force will guarantee the autonomy of each of the Emirates.   Further, the savings in public expenditures by the lack of a defense budget can be used either by keeping taxes low or funding social services. 

Pre-Conditions

As we wrote previously, in order for this or any solution to work, there are certain pre-conditions that will need to be imposed. 

Jerusalem – There must be  Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem with guarantees for freedom of religion for all religions as well as free passage of Moslems to the Al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount.   There can be a Moslem Honor Guard with a symbolic presence that can be made up of guards from various Moslem countries and the CEP.    

 For the Arab communities and villages that are East of Jerusalem they can be connected with the Ramallah Emirate or with Israeli Jerusalem.  Those Arab villages  in the south of Jerusalem (which, in classic Western progressive stupidity is also called “East Jerusalem”), will have to be part of Jerusalem and hence become Israeli citizens (many of which are Israeli citizens now).

Security – A complete and total policy of non-terror must be at the heart of each Emirates legal system.   The zero-tolerance to terror we wrote above must be enshrined in the legal code and accepted by the political, cultural and religious leaders of each Emirate.

Refugees - The  “right of return” to their great grandparent’s villages, the closing of UNRWA as well as the refugee camps that it supports need to be done before the Confederated Emirates of Palestine can be established.     The “refugee camps”  it should be noted, are not camps with tents and other temporary structures but are cities and towns in every sense of the word.   They have regular residences and stores with the only difference between them and the actual cities is that the UN (and hence the US, mostly) pay for all local services including health and education.   Dismantling the refugee camps does not mean tearing down buildings and moving people to new homes but just getting rid of the UN presence and assigning local services to the respective Emirate.

Education – The anti-Semitic educational texts used by Palestinians – including in UN funded schools – has to stop.   Each Emirate will have control over the education of its children and can teach history the way it wants – but it cannot include the vicious anti-Semitism that is present even in its arithmetic textbooks.    It can no longer educate to hate Jews and all other non-Moslems.

The system must also provide for Christian education where there are still Christians.    There can no longer be the aggressive behavior towards Christians that militant Islam has introduced into its cultural and education systems.  Freedom of religion, especially in education, must be established.

As for the Universities, these can come under CEP control if that is what the Consultative Council decides.   Here too, the hate and the violence taught in these universities must be stopped (we can say the same about Western universities).

Gaza 

In a previous essay “Gaza After the War” we suggested a solution that would include Israeli controlled buffer zones in the north and east of Gaza and an Egyptian one in the South.   This still holds and must be permanent.  We also wrote about the three occupation zones controlled by three Arab countries and this must also come after the war.   However, there is no reason these three zones cannot be made into Emirates just like the cities on the West Bank.   They can form a Confederated Emirates of Gaza with a loose connection to the CEP – or be totally independent.  The best solution is for a separate entity that will have free access to a new port and airport in El-Arish, like we suggested in the earlier essay.

The above solution needs lots of technical details to work out before it can be operational.  Before that though, the whole conception of the West – the US, EU, UK and other countries as well as that of Israel must change.   A western style nation-state in the West Bank and Gaza can only lead to misery for the entire region, as we are seeing now with the utterly failed state that Gaza has become.  The Arab world, or at least those countries with functioning governments like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco must make it known that the refugee issue is over and that the good of the Palestinian people lie in the cultural and economic spheres and not in the military dominance.   A CEP with limited sovereignty and lack of territorial contiguity is preferable to the constant state of war.   A situation that encourages and cultivates chaos, terror and hate is only good for the  terrorists and their political enablers who need it to stay relevant.   A leadership and a social and political structure that encourages violence and destruction cannot be allowed to continue in the West Bank and Gaza.   

The US must take the lead on this, along with Israel and the more sensible Arab governments.   The lies and half-truths that have motivated western and Arab policy in the middle east must give way to hardheaded truths.    The dream of a “right of return” must be ended quickly and unequivocally and the idea that justice demands a fully sovereign state with territorial contiguity must be put to sleep.

People will certainly say that the Palestinians or the Arabs in general won’t or can’t accept this.   Well, the time has come to start making demands and forcing some hard truths on the Palestinian side, too. 

As for Israel, the Greater Israel right and the Palestinian State/Peace Now left are both messianic visions of a world that does not and will never exist.    It is time to create a new vision based on reality.