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Sunday, November 9, 1997
Arafat Revives Tribal Power

Nov.Arafat Revives Tribal Power


Nov.8,1997

Abstract from Al-Ahram 30 Oct. - 5 Nov. 1997 "The return of the tribes"by
Graham Usher
Arafat Revives Tribal Power

"The governor's house in Rafah on the southern tip of the Gaza
Strip used to be a gleaming white, three-storied apartment block on the
edge of the town's main square. No longer. Today the house is a gutted
shell, its vacant window frames smeared with soot and its ground floor
garages protected by armed khaki-clad Palestinian soldiers.

"The destruction is the result of a chain of events in Rafah which,
last week, saw thousands of Palestinians storm the governor's residence in
violent protest over the way they are governed. But it is also emblematic
of all that is wrong with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority(PA) in the
areas it commands and. perhaps, of what is in store should political
reforms (as much as economic prosperity) not be forthcoming.

"Palestinians say the trouble started in "a fight over money" between
two of Rafah's biggest clans, the Al-Dhair and Abu Samhadanah families.
It should have been resolved between them or by the legal system of the
Palestinian Authority(PA). But, in Rafah, divisions between civil and
political authority are not so neat, which is why a spat over money can --
in the words of one Palestinian from Rafah -- "become a tribal war in
which one of the tribes is the PA."
. . .

"Last year Yasser Arafat appointed Abdallah Abu Samhadanah Rafah's
Governor. It was not a popular choice. In January 1996, Abdallah stood
for the Palestinian Legislative Council(PLC) but failed to muster enough
votes to be elected. His appointment as governor -- an entirely new
position in Gaza, without historical precedent -- was widely seen to be
due to the weight of his family and their loyalty to Arafat rather than as
representing any mandate from the people. Abdallah certainly seemed to
see it this way.

"Within months of his appointment, Abdallah's brother Odeh, was made
chief of the Political Department in the PA's Interior Ministry. Another
brother, Sulliman, was put in charge of the PA's Electricity Company for
Gaza's southern area. . . . The dispensation of power and position
in Rafah thus became a matter of family connections rather than any other criteria.


" And so, it appeared, was the administration of justice. To settle
his quarrels with the Al-Dhairs, Abdallah last month arrived at the
latter's house escorted by a bevy of heavily armed policemen. Unable to
enter the house, the police opened fire, severely wounding Mussa
Al-Dhair, the clan's muktar. The Al-Dhair family placed a notice in Palestine's
main Al-Quds newspaper, calling on the "masses and the governing authority
... not to permit the law of the jungle to rule our nation". The call
went unheeded -- until 22 October, when Musa Al-Dhair died from his wounds.

"Following his funeral the next day, about 2,000 Palestinians marched
on the governor's house. The march was led by the Al-Dhair family but
supported by others, including Palestinians from Rafah's Shabura refugee
camp, whose poverty stands in provocative contrast to the house's
opulence. "It was neither a demonstration against the PA nor simply a clan dispute",
said one Palestinian. "It was a cocktail of both."

"The cocktail ignited . In a street battle lasting seven hours,
Palestinians threw rocks and molotov cocktails, torching the governor's
residence and two more houses belonging to Yasser and Tayssir Samhadanah,
both officers in the Palestinian police. In a desperate attempt to
maintain order, the police opened fire with live ammunition, killing one
Palestinian and wounding four others. . . .

"Since the PA was installed in 1994, Arafat has based his rule on two
crucial constituencies. One was his Fatah movement, many of whose cadres
were absorbed into the PA's burgeoning and often lawless security
forces. But the other was Arafat's deliberate reempowerment of Palestine's
traditional or tribal families, like the Abu Samhadanahs or, for that
matter, the Al-Dhairs. In Rafah, the two constituencies have become one,
with tribal and political loyalties so interwoven as to be inseparable.

"For Palestinian analysts like the sociologist, Isah Jad, the PA's
"revival of tribal structures" is not only inimicable to Palestinian hopes
for a law based and democratic society. It is corrosive of the modern
national consciousness Palestinians have forged out of their conflict with
Israel. For 30 years, says Jad, "the national movement conducted a long
struggle to weaken loyalty to the family and the tribe and strengthen the
concept of nationalism and loyalty to the homeland. Any rebuilding of
tribal structures will reinstate the family and the tribe as the
individual's first loyalty."

"Many Palestinians in Rafah agree. "During the intifada, people forgot
about the tribes," commented a Palestinian from Shabura. "Resident or
refugee, Christian or Muslim, we were one people. But now the tribes are
back."

Dr. Joseph Lerner,Co-Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-9-7411645
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811

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