PART III EU EFFORTS TO FOSTER INSTITUTIONS FOR STATEHOOD
95) EU interventions on the ground in the West Bank to foster Palestinian self-determination assume that the establishment of a peaceful and secure Palestinian state there is a feasible project. The EU assumes that Palestinians long for a democratic, freedom-based state along Western lines, and no doubt some do. The veracity of that generalization needs to be reviewed in light of the regional patterns of statehood, the political culture and structures in Palestinian society, and the continuing failure in Palestinian state-building despite extraordinary global funds expended and efforts exerted over many decades.
Statehood in the Middle East based on force and struggle for mastership
96) Statehood in the MENA region is regularly based on (a) tribal cultures - individuals enjoying protection of their rights through the power of groups and families; (b) the reign of force - lacking the rule of law in legal culture, the strongest group becomes the most powerful and governs the political institutions; and (c) conservative religious ideologies. This kind of statehood neither guarantees an equal status of citizenship for everybody, nor is it based on separation of state and religion, nor does it protect the rule of law, equal basic rights and freedoms for everybody.
97) Except for Israel, no state in the Middle East has developed a legal culture based on the rule of law, equal rights of all citizens, and the political responsibility of governments.
98) The dynamics and forces structuring the Middle East political system may be best recognized by looking at the divisions of the Middle East along four large political camps: (1) Iran and its allies (in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza); (2) Turkey (sometimes) and Qatar (permanently) in alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood (variously organized in most states in the Middle East); (3) Islamic State, Al Qaida and other Sunni Jihadist groups; and (4) Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states (except Qatar), Morocco and Tunisia.
99) The first three groups are based on extremist ideologies of mostly religious cultural, or totalitarian origin, where political ideas aim at supremacy, often connected with corrupt or criminal economic activities. These states and groups have a far-reachingnegative impact on prospects for peace, as they fight the states of the fourth group and try to destroy every Western political influence. Not only do theyreinforce Palestinianrejection of Israel, but they pose ongoing threats of destabilization and takeover by radical armed fighting groups of several other countries in the region.
100) In many states of the MENA region struggles for power between state institutions and extreme Muslim groups lead to elliptical foci of powers. Thus, groups propagating basic freedoms, rule of law, liberal values and democracy are caught between two mill stones.
101) In such political cultures democratic elections may be doubted as they can become a one-way street in the quest for power, allowing the victor to take everything.
102) Statehoodper se should not be evaluated as positive simply because it achieves stability and seems to legitimize order. Rather, it is necessary to assess whether the internal structures of statehood in the long run are likely to promote or produce equal freedom and security for their citizens. Fundamental conditions of democracy need to be developed: a legal community self-organized by means of equal rights for everybody.
103) It should be noted that, throughout the Middle East, there are changes in economic and cultural conditions and orientations, related inter alia to a growing number of well-educated young people, changing perspectives on religion, changing relations between the sexes, the introduction of communications via the internet, and communication through arts. Also, there have been some fragile developments in the establishment of self-governing territories based on respect for ethnic and religious identity, such as the Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria and the autonomous province in Northern Iraq.
104) It is difficult to predict whether these cultural changes will lead to the development of political communities based on rule of law, equal rights and responsibility. They have not yet led to a Palestinian political culture aspiring to the rule of law and equal human rights for everybody.
Palestinian political and legal culture
105) The Palestinian way of life in the West Bank never included state-building in the sense of a state along Western lines based on freedom and the rule of law. Strong families and clans, mostly bound to a traditional religious Islamic and Arabic culture of honor on local and regional level, generate patronage as a general model of authority. Leadership is constructed from