Status of Village Leagues in Doubt Following Doudin’s Resignation

The resignation Sunday of Mustapha Doudin as the head of the government-backed Village Leagues on the West Bank, leaves the future status of the Leagues surrounded in uncertainty.

Doudin, of Hebron, was the strong man of the Leagues which was the only Arab organization in the occupied territories to openly call for a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and for Palestinian recognition of Israel’s right to exist.

But with the appointment of Moshe Arens as Defense Minister there was a decline in the prestige and influence of the Leagues among local authorities. Whereas Village Leagues leaders demanded that they be recognized as a political party, the present, Israeli defense administration sought to have them limit themselves to municipal services to the villages.

ISSUES IN THE DISPUTE

This had led to a recent dispute between Doudin and the civil administration in the territories which wants greater control over the manner in which the Leagues spend funds allocated to it from the government. The Leagues were established by former Defense Minister Ariel Sharon to act as a counter-force to Palestine Liberation Organization influence in the territories.

Doudin recently ran into conflict with the younger members of the Village Leagues over an article in a Leagues publication which attacked Israel and Jordan and was said to have reflected Doudin’s personal views of the present situation.

The attack on Israel and Jordan was explained as part of Doudin’s long-running feud with Jordanian Premier Mudar Badran that goes back to when Doudin was a Jordanian Cabinet minister. Anti-Doudin elements within the Leagues argue that such attacks could jeopardize their political and economic interests. Several key West Bank Arab political figures expressed satisfaction with Doudin’s resignation. They said this was a natural result of the new Defense Ministry policy to shift emphasis back from the Leagues to the towns and pro-Jordanian elements.