Tribes in a number of Arab countries are replacing official and governmental bodies to resolve conflicts and limit specific phenomena, and in Palestine the tribes have emerged recently in order to combat the Corona virus sweeping the world.
The number of people afflicted with a corona has doubled recently in Palestine, as statistics of the Palestinian Ministry of Health say that more than 80% of the recent injuries - which numbered about 5,000 - resulted from gatherings in weddings and mourning houses, and lack of commitment to prevention and public safety methods.
The Palestinian government decided to take legal measures against violators by closing wedding halls and fining those who were not committed, especially with the number of deaths increasing to more than 32 cases, but the government does not effectively control the turbulent reality on the ground with the presence of the Israeli occupation.
Non-commitment and recklessness
Failure to adhere to the government's decisions with a group of legal personalities - especially among them and the elders of the tribes - led to an agreement on a code of honor signed by the influencers in the Palestinian villages, cities and camps, to compel people "morally" not to perform weddings and mourning houses, and to limit this on a small scale while taking safety measures.
This document was announced by Sheikh Dawud Al-Zeer, one of the most prominent tribal elders in Palestine, and I add to it public figures and popular committees in the camps to be trusted by the public, not only in areas with clan influence, but in all Palestinian cities, villages, towns, camps, and communities.
Sheikh Daoud Al-Zeer says that citizens are divided between the reckless and uninsured virus, and the last opponent of government decisions, stressing that this will increase the numbers of injuries and deaths at a later time if the elderly and the sick are injured, which happened in Palestine within a few days.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Zeer believes that action must be taken to assist the Palestinian government in this difficult circumstance, noting that the honor document was approved by various tribal elders in all Palestinian governorates, to limit the spread of the epidemic.
Moral obligation
The people responsible for the honor document seek to limit the spread of the epidemic that spread rapidly due to the gatherings. Sheikh Al-Zeer says that the aim of preventing the gathering is not to prevent the establishment of weddings or mourning houses, but rather to stop the gatherings and urge the use of modern means in communication between people to offer congratulations or do the duty of consolation , Without gathering or meeting.
Al-Zeer demanded that he receives an invitation not to meet it in person, revealing that one injured person transmitted the infection to 20 people while he was participating in a wedding in one of the Palestinian governorates, as indicated by one of the statistics.
He considered that this national tribal document binds the Palestinians in a moral, ethical and honorary manner rather than legal, which is the essence of tribalism that is based on these characteristics, and the government can support this through the law by pursuing those who violate public safety measures.
Stop security coordination
The signatories of their document highlighted the stopping of security coordination with the Israeli occupation and the prevention of Palestinian security services from moving or entering areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, because they are areas classified as (C) according to the Oslo agreement.
The tribal and literary norm in these areas becomes stronger than the law by virtue of the inability of the official authorities to impose their authority on the ground, as well as inviting the document to the Palestinians from the territories occupied in 48 and those working in these areas when entering the West Bank to maintain their safety and the safety of their families through known protection methods.
For his part, the spokesman for the Palestinian police, Colonel Louay Arizikat - speaking to Al-Jazeera Net - considered that the aim of the closure procedures in Palestine and the sanctions approved by the legal authorities for those who are not committed under the Corona pandemic, is to limit the spread of the virus, not punishment.
And Rizeqat valued any Palestinian societal role in limiting the spread of the epidemic so that the Palestinian people can devote their capabilities and energy in facing the occupation, the most dangerous epidemic in the Palestinian Territory.