Sunni Arab Tribes
The predominate form of social identity and mobilization among Sunni Arabs is through Sunni Arab tribalism. The tribe is basically a very large extended family tracing lineage back to a shared common ancestor. Sunni Arab tribes include branches of multinational tribal confederations such as the Shammar, the Ougaidat, the Baggara, the Taie, and the Jabbour, and smaller tribal groups such as the al-Sharabiyya and the Zubayd. Several of the region’s Sunni Arab tribes, including the Shammar, Jabbour, and the Baggara, also have cross-border ties with fellow tribesmen in Iraq which they have drawn upon for support. The largest Sunni tribes in Syria with brethren on both sides of the border include the al-Baggara (Mosul and Tikrit), al-Ughaydat (Mosul) and al-Mashahda (Tikrit).
By the late 1950s Syrian tribes had been largely isolated and subjected to strict surveillance and control by the Syrian military. The Ba`ath Party in Syria attempted to weaken Sunni Arab tribalism as a primary form of social mobilization since it assumed power in the country in 1963.
The bond that unites tribesmen is a shared common ancestor and tribal lore. This socially ascribed identity is reliant on it being recognized by others and is not necessarily associated with a claim to specific territory. This belonging carries with it certain obligations, such as defense against external aggression. During Ottoman rule, the tribal system was strengthened in the rural areas. The Ottomans concentrated their rule on the cities and so long as the tribes did not rise up in revolt they were left to their devices.
The state encouraged Syrian tribes to give up their nomadic life in favor of settlement in and around the Euphrates River and its (often dry) tributaries. In Syria, only eight wholly nomadic tribes remain, sometimes overlapping international boundaries. They are the Ruwala (by far the largest) and the Hassana of the Syrian Desert; the Butainat and the Abadah, near Tadmur in central Hims Province; the Fadan Walad and the Fadan Kharsah of the Euphrates Desert; and the Shammar az Zur and the Shammar al Kharsah in Dayr az Zawr Province.
Tribal society consists of semiautonomous bands of kinsmen moving their flocks within their respective territories. Each band is defined by its members' descent from a common male ancestor, and bands are grouped together according to their supposed descent from a more distant male. Each tribal group, from the smallest band to the largest confederation, ordinarily bears the name of the common ancestor who supposedly founded the particular kin group.
The tribal community itself is defined in terms of kinship, with patterns of behavior, both within and between groups, governed by kinship relations. The kinship system also served to stabilize relations among different bands and groups of bands. The individual tribesman is placed in the center of ever-widening circles of kinship relations that, in theory at least, eventually link him with all other tribesmen within a particular region of the country--that is, with all tribesmen with whom he is likely to come into contact.
Within the basic tribal unit, the nomadic band, the individual's status is ascribed at birth in terms of the kinship relations existing between him and all other members of his band. He is considered subordinate to his elder kinsmen and equal to his age-mates. However, a tribesman may gain prestige because of his special skills at riding horses, hunting, herding animals, or handling men--particularly in the settlement of disputes. His standing within the band will also be enhanced by his relative wealth in terms of the kind and number of animals and the special gear and equipment he owns. Beduin in Syria are not considered poor or underprivileged people; in fact, many beduin tribes are regarded as very wealthy by Syrian standards because of their ownership of large flocks of sheep--a valuable commodity. High-prestige animals are horses, camels, sheep, and goats, in that order. A tribesman who owns a horse has more prestige than one who does not; one who has two horses is more esteemed than another who has only one. Otherwise, the relative social differences between tribesmen, other than for members of the mukhtar's and shaykh's lineages, are slight.
The mukhtar has a special, superior relationship to other tribesmen in that band; he is elected from among the adult male members of a specific lineage segment within the band. Generally the most prominent member of the lineage segment, he is selected by his close kinsmen and approved by the tribesmen at large and by the leaders of the superordinate tribal group. Although the office of mukhtar does not necessarily pass from father to son, it tends to remain within the same lineage segment. This lineage segment is likely to have a good deal of the band's wealth in terms of animals and gear and probably most of the money to be found within the band.
The mukhtar exerts most of his influence as the leader in the majlis (tribal council), which is composed of all adult males of the band, and the views of its most senior and respected members carry the most weight in council. The mukhtar holds open majlis daily in his guest tent, where the tribesmen discuss all matters of importance to the band. In addition, individual tribesmen appear before the majlis to air their own problems and to press grievances against fellow tribesmen. The mukhtar and his majlis try to solve all these problems and disputes within the tribal unit.
When settlement within the band is not reached or when the dispute involves members of two or more bands, the problem becomes a matter for consideration by the leaders of superordinate tribal groups who stand in a senior position both to the mukhtar of the single band and to the parties to the dispute. Final appeal is to the paramount shaykh of the entire tribe. The Kurdish tribal groups have essentially the same structure as the Arab tribes but apply different titles to their leaders, and their political and economic tribal unit appears to be smaller than that common among Arabs.
Election abnormalities in Raqqa Province in the 22-23 April 2007 elections for Syria's Peoples Assembly, in tandem with the governor's announced plans there to redo voting in 20 election centers, led to rioting by members of local tribes, finally ending with a settlement between officials of the two concerned tribes in which each tribe was allocated one of the two contested seats, according to press reports. Some unconfirmed press reports suggested that earlier up to 10,000 people had blocked the highway between Raqqa and nearby city Deir-ez-Zour and stoned the local police chief's car.
In the days in 2006, 2007 during the height of the civil war in Iraq, General Petraeus cultivated the help of the Shammar Tribe that are actually Syrian-Iraqi. They go back and forth. By 2012 the Syrian tribes in the east were increasingly strong in their opposition to the Assad regime and their interest in seeing change. At that time, the was working with them, and with other groups, as were many of Syria’s neighbors in the region. The was trying to connect the tribes to some of the other opposition groups inside and outside of Syria so that they can have a common strategy to prepare for the transition and to prepare for interim security. Like other segments of the Syrian opposition, Syrian tribes had at times been reluctant to expand hostilities against government forces beyond their immediate home territory.
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