In early May, Arab tribes in the North Sinai Governorate unveiled the ‘Sinai

In early May, Arab tribes in the North Sinai Governorate unveiled the ‘Sinai Tribes Union’ to fight jihadists and support the Egyptian government in its fight against terrorist groups, a move sparked by the killing of three members of the well-known Tarabin tribe.

Their union seeks to end the long-standing violence and abuse of tribes, who are often threatened with death if they don’t shelter or cooperate with the terrorists.

The Tarabin tribe is one of the oldest, largest and most deep-rooted Bedouin tribes in North Sinai Governorate. It is affiliated with the famous land-rich Bakoum tribe. Comprising 20 different clans, its members number 475,000 who are spread all over the Naqab Desert, Sinai, Aqaba, south of Khalil and Cairo, according to the official statistics issued by the Sinai Development Centre.

The Tarabin tribe decided to push for the ‘Sinai Tribes Union,’ reacting to the killing of Abdulbaset Jaladin, the tribe’s leader, and two other young men from the tribe. They were killed by the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdes militia group because they “cooperated with the Egyptian armed forces against the treacherous jihadists from the same tribe who cooperate with those ISIS-like terrorist groups,” explained Sheikh Ibrahim Arjani, one of the Tarabin tribe’s prominent figures in northern Sinai.

Arjani said that members of the Sinai tribes, unfortunately, assisted this criminal terrorist group in its crime against the Tarabin tribe and know about their cooperation and work with that group, including Youssef Abu Lama and Salama Abu Dan. Arjani said that prompted the Tarabin tribe to form a union with other tribes to protect itself and Sinai.

A message to the world

At first, we found it difficult when the Manaia tribe offered to join the alliance as Shadi Manaii, the leader of the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdes, is one of its members. That instigated a violent reaction from the terrorist group which bombed a number of police and army armored vehicles,” he added.

Arjani stressed that the fact that the Manaia tribe joined the union sent a strong message to the world, namely that not all of Sinai people are supportive of terrorist groups. After all, even the tribe to which a jihadists’ leader belongs dares to cooperate with the army.

Arjani denies that the tribes cut a deal with the army to help it capture the jihadists in exchange of releasing tribe members accused of being affiliated with extremists. Suspicions were fanned after the decision of the armed forces to release 94 young men who were under investigation by the armed forces at the Jalaa Prison in the Ismailia Governorate, on May 6, just one day after the new union was announced. Arjani, however, argued that those tribe members were released after they were acquitted of any terrorist acts.

Cooperating for peace

The union will work via committees of people who will fight terrorism under the auspices of the army. It pledges never to conceal those who are suspected of joining terrorist groups, said Sheikh Issa Al-Kharafeen, Head of the Union of Northern Sinai and Areesh Tribes.

The new union supports spreading cultural and religious awareness to overcome extremism and to spread moderate Islam.

But this often happens against a backdrop of fear, according to Mansur Khozaimi, a tribesman from Sinai. “Most of the tribes know the jihadists well, whether they are from Sinai or outside,” he said. “They often know them by name because the jihadist groups used to threaten to kill the tribes’ people if they reported them to the security forces….Fear prevailed and cooperation between them depended on protection and concealment in exchange of their security and safety. That is why they had no choice but to accept that reality especially after their rise under the ousted President Mohamed Morsi.”

Unfortunately, there were lots of tribes who were forced to deal with these jihadists as they feared killings and violence especially after the 25 January Revolution. They accepted their conditions namely protection in exchange for security. However, the situation changed a lot and the army spread all over Sinai which made us return the favour and support it,” he added.

Settling scores?

Nevertheless, the idea to form a union has not been universally welcomed. Ali Suhaib, a revolution activist in Northern Sinai Governorate, is afraid that this union may open the door to tribesmen seeking to settle scores beyond the law. Personal disputes, he said, may lead to reporting on or even killing people on the false accusation that they are affiliated with jihadist groups.

Hamed Abdullah, a political activist in Areesh, however, argued that tribesmen established the union because they were among those bearing the brunt of the violence and injustice meted out by these groups.

Musa Dalh, one of the Tarabin’s sheikhs in northern Sinai, said 30 different Arab tribes of the Sinai joined the union, most prominently the Tarabin and Manaia. “We will not name these tribes to preserve our unity and our connection,” he said.

Dalh added that Sinai tribes, in cooperation with the army and the police, managed to purge around 95% of the terrorist strongholds in Areesh, Sheikh Zweid, Rafah, Mahdiya and others. He stressed that they have located hundreds of food, weapon and explosive stores belonging to the terrorist groups, which were revealed to the army. They also destroyed many of the remote hideouts used by jihadists after they had caused an act of terror.

Bedouin soldiers

Karam Fadloun, a member of the union, described the Bedouin young men who joined, typically wearing their short white robes and loose trousers, with their heads covered with a black strip and leather sandals on their feet: It is unfamiliar to see them standing next to the Egyptian soldiers in military uniforms.”

Fadloun stressed that the tribes’ young men were divided into two groups. The first group’s role is to collect well-documented information about terrorists, their whereabouts and their secret hideouts which they use to escape the army’s attacks and spot the illegal tunnels which extend to Gaza.

The second group is composed of young volunteers who work with the armed forces in the military campaigns against terrorists and their strongholds. They specify the targeted individuals and areas and nominate an individual from each quarter in a tribe whose task is to specify the extremists in his area and report them to the relevant authorities after checking that their involvement is certain, albeit through, fighting, providing financial support or promoting their ideas. “At the end of the day, our aim is to stop the bloodshed and protect the country from their violence,” he said.