The Muslim Brotherhood's Model of Social Control
Hamas's grip on the Gaza Strip is not merely the result of military dominance, but of its adoption of the Muslim Brotherhood's decentralized model of social mobilization. This structure—rooted in solidarity networks, religious authority, and the distribution of welfare—has allowed Hamas to maintain power even under extreme infrastructural collapse. It is a system that survives airstrikes, sanctions, and political pressure because it is embedded in the daily life and needs of ordinary Gazans.
Rather than direct control through institutions of state, Hamas uses the Brotherhood's model to create a parallel society: clinics, schools, food banks, and financial aid, all provided through informal networks tied to religious-political loyalty. This system ensures loyalty through dependency and marginalizes those outside of it.
Crucially, it is not built for resilience of the people—it is built for the resilience of the regime.
Any sustainable solution for Gaza must address this fundamental architecture. Military pressure alone cannot dismantle the system. To offer a true alternative, a new social protection framework must be introduced—one that integrates tribal leaders (hamulas), operates on principles of ethical financial solidarity (such as Abrahamic banking), and aims to raise Gaza's Human Development Index (HDI) above the threshold of radicalization (0.7).
Only by replacing the Brotherhood's model—not merely confronting it—can a stable and peaceful post-Hamas Gaza emerge.
The United Emirates Alternative: A System Built for Peace
The United Emirates of Gaza model represents a comprehensive alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood's control system. Where Hamas creates dependency through ideological networks, the emirates model builds interdependency through economic cooperation. Where the Brotherhood maintains power through exclusion, the emirates system ensures stability through inclusion.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar explains that even though 70% of Gazans are presently displaced, the traditional clan structures (hamulas) remain intact as social units. These structures, unlike Hamas's imported Muslim Brotherhood model, have organic legitimacy and have historically managed resources, resolved disputes, and maintained social order without ideological extremism.
The emirates system would fundamentally restructure Gaza's governance around:
- Economic Integration: Industrial zones and trade corridors that connect Gaza to regional prosperity rather than isolating it
- Traditional Governance: Hamula councils that derive authority from social legitimacy rather than armed force
- Service Delivery: Direct provision of education, health, and welfare through transparent, accountable local structures
- Financial Inclusion: Abrahamic banking principles that provide capital access without the exploitation of Hamas's monopolistic control
Breaking the Cycle of Radicalization
The Dor Moriah Center research demonstrates that societies with HDI below 0.7 are significantly more prone to violent conflict. Gaza's current HDI of approximately 0.55 places it firmly in the danger zone. The Muslim Brotherhood model deliberately maintains this low development level because desperation enhances control.
The United Emirates model directly addresses this by:
- Creating employment through industrial zones linked to regional supply chains
- Establishing educational institutions focused on practical skills rather than ideological indoctrination
- Building healthcare systems based on professional standards rather than political loyalty
- Developing infrastructure that serves economic growth rather than tunnel networks
The Strategic Imperative: Recognizing the Real Challenge
The first and most critical step is achieving consensus among all stakeholders—Israel, regional partners, international community—that the challenge in Gaza is not merely Hamas as an organization, but the Muslim Brotherhood's entire model of social mobilization. This recognition fundamentally changes the nature of the solution required.
Hamas is merely the local manifestation of a broader system—one that has destabilized societies from Egypt to Syria, from Libya to Yemen. The Muslim Brotherhood's model thrives on chaos, poverty, and isolation because these conditions make populations dependent on their parallel welfare structures. Any solution that fails to address this systemic reality will only create space for the Brotherhood to reconstitute itself under a different name.
Building an Alternative Social Mobilization System
The United Emirates model offers more than governance—it provides an alternative system of social mobilization based on:
- Economic opportunity rather than ideological purity
- Traditional legitimacy rather than revolutionary fervor
- Regional integration rather than perpetual conflict
- Human development rather than martyrdom culture
This isn't about imposing a solution from outside, but about empowering the authentic social structures that the Muslim Brotherhood displaced. The hamulas have governed Gaza's communities for centuries. They maintained order, resolved disputes, and managed resources without resorting to extremism. The Brotherhood model is the foreign import—the emirates model is the return to authentic governance.
The Coalition for Transformation
Success requires bringing together stakeholders who understand that sustainable peace demands systemic change:
- Regional partners who have already defeated Muslim Brotherhood influence in their own societies
- International actors willing to redirect aid from maintaining failure to building success
- Palestinian Arab communities ready to reclaim their future from ideological extremism
- Israeli leadership prepared to support genuine transformation rather than conflict management
The conversation must shift from "How do we manage Hamas?" to "How do we build a system that makes the Muslim Brotherhood model obsolete?"
This requires courage to acknowledge that military victories alone cannot defeat a social mobilization system—only a better social mobilization system can.
The Path Forward
The United Emirates of Gaza represents hope—not through naive optimism, but through proven models of transformation. The Gulf emirates demonstrate that traditional governance structures, combined with economic integration and human development focus, can create prosperity from the most challenging conditions.
The choice facing the international community is stark: continue investing in conflict management while the Muslim Brotherhood's model deepens its roots, or invest in building an alternative system that offers Palestinian Arabs genuine dignity through development. Every day of delay strengthens the Brotherhood's narrative that their model is the only option for Palestinian Arab resistance and identity.
The time has come to prove them wrong. The United Emirates model doesn't just offer a different leadership—it offers a different future. One where Palestinian Arab children grow up with opportunities rather than grievances, where families build businesses rather than tunnels, where communities invest in life rather than death.
This transformation begins with recognition: we are not merely fighting Hamas, we are competing against the Muslim Brotherhood's entire vision for Palestinian Arab society. Once we understand the real challenge, we can build the real solution. The United Emirates of Gaza can become the model for defeating extremism through prosperity—but only if we have the wisdom to recognize the true nature of the challenge and the courage to build a comprehensive alternative.