A Leader on Both Sides of the Border: The Amir Fa'our al-Fa'our Between Syria and Mandatory Palestine

Abstract

In the decades preceding 1948, the Bedouin Amirs of the Fa‘our family, leaders of the Fadil tribe, were dominant figures in the area of the meeting point of the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. After World War I, two mandatory powers divided control over the Fadil tribe habitat, forcing Amir Fa‘our al-Fa‘our to deal with new and serious problems necessitating new processes of adaptation. These were territorial, as tribal lands were now under different mandates; political, in dealing with conflicting British, French, Syrian, Lebanese, and Zionist goals; and personal, as debt became a decisive factor in decision-making. This article investigates the Fa‘our family sources of power from the end of Ottoman rule and the ways in which new problems were dealt with during mandatory control.