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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/07/18/fragmenting-a-nation-israels-enduring-pursuit-of-palestinian-disunity/">counterpunch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Fragmenting a Nation: Israel's Enduring Pursuit of Palestinian Disunity</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ramzy Baroud</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">July 18, 2025</div>
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<div id="gmail-attachment_371823" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-371823" src="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/dylan-shaw-Uq9UXSrXsGs-unsplash-5-680x453.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="311" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;"></p><p id="gmail-caption-attachment-371823" class="gmail-wp-caption-text"><font size="1">Image by Dylan Shaw.</font></p></div>
<p>Israel is aggressively implementing plans to shape Palestine\u2019s future
and the broader region, sculpting its vision for the \u2018day after\u2019 its
genocide in Gaza.</p>
<p>The latest, bizarre iteration of this strategy proposes fragmenting
the occupied West Bank into so-called \u2019emirates,\u2019 starting with the
\u2019emirate of Hebron.\u2019</p>
<p>This unexpected twist in Israel\u2019s protracted search for alternative Palestinian leadership first <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/new-palestinian-offer-peace-israel-hebron-sheikh-emirate-36dd39c3">surfaced</a> in the staunchly pro-Israeli US newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. It then quickly dominated all Israeli media.</p>
<p>The report details a letter from a person identified by the WSJ as
\u201cthe leader of Hebron\u2019s most influential clan.\u201d Addressed to Nir
Barakat, Jerusalem\u2019s former Israeli mayor, the letter from Sheikh Wadee\u2019
al-Jaabari appeals for \u201ccooperation with Israel\u201d in the name of
\u201cco-existence.\u201d</p>
<p>This \u201cco-existence,\u201d according to the \u201cclan leader\u201d, would
materialize in the \u201cEmirate of Hebron.\u201d This \u201cemirate\u201d would \u201crecognize
the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,\u201d in
exchange for reciprocal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/new-palestinian-offer-peace-israel-hebron-sheikh-emirate-36dd39c3">recognition</a> of the \u201cEmirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District.\u201d</p>
<p>The story may seem perplexing. This is because Palestinian discourse,
regardless of geography or political affiliation, has never entertained
such an absurd concept as united West Bank \u201cemirates.\u201d</p>
<p>Another element of absurdity is that Palestinian national identity
and pride in their people\u2019s unwavering resilience, especially in Gaza,
are at an unprecedented apex. To float such clan-based alternatives to
legitimate Palestinian leadership seems ill-conceived and is destined to
fail.</p>
<p>Israel\u2019s desperation is palpable. In Gaza, it <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-military-spokesman-hamas-defeated-netanyahu-war-gaza-rcna157991">cannot</a>
defeat Hamas and other Palestinian factions who have resisted the
Israeli takeover of the Strip for 21 months. All attempts to engineer an
alternative Palestinian leadership there have utterly collapsed.</p>
<p>This failure has compelled Israel to arm and fund a criminal gang that operated before October 7, 2023, in Gaza. This gang <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/10/exclusive-new-militia-emerges-in-gaza-to-challenge-hamas-control">functions</a> under the command of Yasser Abu Shabab.</p>
<p>The gang has been implicated in a litany of violent activities. These include <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20250607-israel-admits-support-anti-hamas-armed-group-accused-looting-gaza-aid-bedouin-abu-shabab">hijacking</a>
humanitarian aid to perpetuate famine in Gaza and orchestrating
violence associated with aid distribution, among other egregious crimes.</p>
<p>Like the clan leader of Hebron, the Abu Shabab criminal gang
possesses no legitimacy and no public support among Palestinians. But
why would Israel resort to such disreputable figures when the
Palestinian Authority (PA), already engaged in \u201csecurity coordination\u201d
with Israel in the West Bank, is ostensibly <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/29/palestinian-authority-arrest-campaign-one-of-the-worst-in">willing</a> to comply?</p>
<p>The answer lies in the current Israeli extremist government\u2019s adamant
refusal to acknowledge Palestinians as a nation. Thus, even a
collaborating Palestinian nationalist entity would be deemed problematic
from an Israeli perspective.</p>
<p>While Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government is not the first Israeli
leadership to explore clan-based alternatives among Palestinians, the
Israeli prime minister and his extremist allies are exceptionally
determined to dismantle any Palestinian claim to nationhood. This was
explicitly stated by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. He
famously <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/20/palestinians-an-invention-of-past-century-israel-smotrich">declared</a> in Paris, in March 2023, that a Palestinian nation is an \u201cinvention.\u201d</p>
<p>Thus, despite the PA\u2019s willingness to cooperate with Israel in
controlling Gaza, Israel remains apprehensive. Empowering the PA as a
nationalist model fundamentally contravenes Israel\u2019s overarching
objectives of denying the Palestinian people their very claim to
nationhood and, consequently, statehood and sovereignty.</p>
<p>Though Israel has consistently failed to establish and sustain its
own alternative Palestinian leadership, its repeated efforts have
invariably proven disruptive and violent.</p>
<p>Prior to the Nakba of 1948, the Zionist movement, alongside British
authorities colonizing Palestine, heavily invested in undermining the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arab-Higher-Committee">Arab Higher Committee</a>,
a nationalist body comprising several political parties. They achieved
this by empowering collaborating clans, hoping to dilute the Palestinian
nationalist movement.</p>
<p>When Israel occupied the remainder of historic Palestine in 1967, it
reverted to the same divide-and-conquer tactics. For instance, it
established a Palestinian police force directly commanded by Israeli
military administrations, in addition to creating an underground network
of collaborators.</p>
<p>Following the overwhelming victory of nationalist candidates in the <a href="https://wikipedia.nucleos.com/viewer/wikipedia_en_all/A/1976_West_Bank_local_elections">1976 elections</a>
in occupied Palestine, Israel responded by cracking down on
PLO-affiliated politicians, arresting, deporting and assassinating some.</p>
<p>Two years later, in 1978, it <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/story-palestinian-village-leagues">launched</a>
its \u2018Village Leagues\u2019 project. It hand-picked compliant traditional
figures, designating them as the legitimate representatives of
Palestinians.</p>
<p>These individuals, armed, protected and financed by the Israeli
occupation army, were positioned to represent their respective clans in
Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Gaza and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Palestinians immediately denounced them as collaborators. They were widely boycotted and socially ostracized.</p>
<p>Eventually, it became evident that Israel had no alternative but to engage directly with the PLO. This culminated in the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo">Oslo Accords</a> in 1993 and the subsequent formation of the PA.</p>
<p>The fundamental problem, however, persisted: the PA\u2019s insistence on a
Palestinian state remains anathema to an Israel that has shifted
dramatically to the right.</p>
<p>This explains Netanyahu\u2019s government\u2019s unwavering <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202502/1328614.shtml">insistence</a>
that the PA has no role in Gaza in any \u2018day after\u2019 scenario. While the
PA could serve Israel\u2019s interest in containing the rebellious Strip,
such a triumph would inevitably recenter the discussion of a Palestinian
state\u2014a concept repugnant to most Israelis.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that neither the Abu Shabab gang nor the Hebron
emirate will govern Palestinians, either in Gaza or the West Bank.
Israel\u2019s insistence on fabricating these alternatives, however,
underscores its historic determination to deny Palestinians any sense of
nationhood.</p>
<p>Israel\u2019s persistent fantasies of control invariably fail. Despite
their profound wounds, Palestinians are more unified than ever, their
collective identity and nationhood hardened by relentless resistance and
countless sacrifices.</p>
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<em>Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is \u201c</em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092"><em>These Chains Will Be Broken</em></a><em>:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons\u201d
(Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research
Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim
University (IZU). His website is </em><a href="http://www.ramzybaroud.net/"><em>www.ramzybaroud.net</em></a>
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