Mukhtar

A mukhtar (Arabic: مختار, romanized: mukhtār, lit. 'chosen one';^[1] Greek: μουχτάρης) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule".^[1] According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures".^[2] They "were not restricted to Muslim communities"; even "Christian and Jewish communities in the Arab world also had mukhtars."^[2]

Mukhtars are headmen or clan elders. They traditionally linked villagers with the state bureaucracy. Some of the mukhtar’s duties included registering life events (births, marriages, etc.) and notarizing documents.^[3] Quoting Tore Björgo: "The mukhtar was, among other things, responsible for collecting taxes and ensuring that law and order was prevailing in his village".^[4]

Gaza[edit]

From 1917 to 1948, Britain ruled Palestine. The British co-opted Gazan families and appointed members of the families to local office. Several mukhtars (family headmen) interviewed in 2007 attributed their position to the initial appointment by the British.^[3] British rulers in Palestine before Israel's establishment in 1948 depended on mukhtars to rule. In Gaza, there are still dozens of families that function as powerful clans. These families derive their influence from overseeing businesses and have the allegiance of hundreds to thousands of relatives. The leader of each family is known as a mukhtar.^[5]