Huwaytat

Genealogy and origin

The ancestor of the Huwaytat, Alayan al-Jammazi al-Husayni al-Hashimi, had arrived in the Syrian desert from Medina accompanied with other members of the ashraf social class in the city. He had fallen sick while upon this journey and had to stop travelling, he was taken in by the chief of the Ma'azah tribe in al-Aqaba, Atiyyah. Here Alayan had become settled, him being the only learned and literate person in the vicinity of the tribe meant that he would be able to unfold fraudulent activities and deceit done by the people of the area, thus they called him al-Huwayt, literally meaning the little wall as he kept unravelling their schemes. This name would be then taken up by his descendants.

Alayan al-Jammazi was a descendant of Ali al-Sajjad, son of Husayn ibn Ali, son of Ali and Fatima. His lineage is as follows; Alayan al-Huwayt ibn Jamaaz ibn Hashim ibn Salim ibn Mahna ibn Dawood ibn Mahna ibn Jamaaz ibn al-Qasim ibn Mahna al-Araj ibn Husayn ibn Mahna ibn Dawood ibn Ahmad al-Qasim ibn Ubaydullah al-Amir ibn Tahir Sheikh al-Hijaz ibn Yahya al-Nesabah ibn al-Hasan Abu Muhammad Ja’far al-Hujjah ibn Ubaidullah al-A’raj ibn al-Husayn al-Asghar ibn Imam Ali Zain al-Abidin ibn Imam Al-Hussein ibn Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.

History and presence

Huwaytat nomads were recorded as the only tribesmen living in the southern, inland area of the Karak Sanjak of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.

They developed into a partly settled tribe, combining farming in the fertile areas of al-Sharat with pastoralism, but early in the 20th century were rendered more or less nomadic by the activities of two rival sheikhs, Abtan ibn Jazi and Auda Abu Tayi, who concentrated on raiding, collection of tribute and camel-herding.

Role during the Arab revolt

The Abu-Tayi subclan of the tribe were supporters of the Hashemite cause during the Arab Revolt, in which they formed an important part of Faisal's forces; Auda Abu Tayi was able to muster a force of Bedouin tribesmen willing to march on Aqaba under the banner of Prince Feisal bin Hussein. The ibn-Jazi subclan of the tribe remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire: their leader Hamad ibn Jazi was decorated by the empire in early 1917. In later years, the Howeitat returned to farming; they were also prominent in the Arab Legion, the Ibn Jazi section becoming the most powerful component in the federation. The Huwaytat still have possession of large areas of land around Wadi Rum and stretching into Saudi Arabia; they have historically been a significant source of manpower for the Saudi Arabian National Guard and the Royal Jordanian Land Force.

In 1938, the Huwaytat tribe in Transjordan was estimated to be around 1,000 tents. They resided in the Ma'an and 'Aqaba region, around Tafilah, and in the plan of ash-Sher'ah in Edom.

Present-day status and Saudi displacement

Nowadays, the Huwaytat tribe has largely given up its nomadic lifestyle, and settled into villages. On 13 April 2020 a Howeitat man named Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti posted videos online announcing that Saudi security forces were trying to evict him and other members of the tribe from their historic homeland to make way for the development of Neom. Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti, a Saudi human rights activist also of the Howeitat tribe, circulated the videos. In the videos Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti said he would defy the eviction orders though he expected Saudi authorities would plant weapons in his house to incriminate him.

He was later killed by Saudi security forces, who claimed he had opened fire on them. This version of events was disputed by Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti who said that he did not own firearms. His funeral was held near the village of al-Khoraibah and was well attended despite the presence of Saudi security forces.

Eight cousins of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti have been arrested for protesting against the eviction order but Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti said that she and human rights activists in the west hoped to challenge the arrests. Alhwaiti says that the Howeitat are not opposed to the development of Neom, but do not want to be evicted from their traditional homeland. Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti says she has received death threats from people she says are supporters of Mohammed bin Salman. She reported the threats to British police.

On 6 October 2020, The Independent reported that ancient Saudi Arabia's tribe Howeitat was in danger because of the $1.5 trillion hi-tech city project called Neom. In recent months the Saudi authorities allegedly arrested, harassed, hounded and even killed members of the tribe on being questioned for their plans and denied the sale of their land to the state. According to a London-based activist and spokesperson of the tribe, Alya Alhwaiti, and members of the tribe called the United Nations to investigate the matter. Alhwaiti claimed that the kingdom's crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman promised the tribe in 2016 to be a part of the Neom project along with a share in the development and improvement of the area. However, in 2020 the Howeitat tribe was instead forced to leave their land without a place to stay in exchange. In May 2023, the Saudi Arabian government convicted six members of the Howeitat tribe of "terrorism" due to their opposition to the planned city's development. Three of the convicted men received the death penalty, while the other three received sentences ranging 27 to 50 years. UN Special Rapporteurs working on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dispute the veracity of the charges and sentencing, stating that the men were "arrested for resisting forced evictions", along with alleging torture of the detained.

Language

The Huwaytat speak a variety of Bedouin Arabic, specifically Northwest Arabian Arabic.

In literature

The Huwaytat are often mentioned in Richard Francis Burton's travelogue The Land of Midian, in which he gives the following account of their origin:

They are also mentioned in [T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom and the film Lawrence of Arabia.

References

References

1. "Our TRIBE - Howaitat".
2. "Changing the Historical Narrative: Saeb Erekat's New Spin".
3. "Changing the Historical Narrative: Saeb Erekat's New Spin".
4. Erekat Family. (2010). "Huwaytat Genealogy".
5. Bakhit, Muhammad Adnan. (1982) ''The Ottoman Province of Damascus in the Sixteenth Century''. Beirut: Libraire du Liban. p. 194.
6. Alon, Y. and Eilon, J. ''The Making of Jordan: Tribes, Colonialism and the Modern State'', Tauris, 2007, {{ISBN. 1-84511-138-9, p.162
7. Teitelbaum, J. (2001) ''The Rise and Fall of the Hashimite Kingdom of Arabia'', Hurst, p.92
8. Epstein, Eliahu. (1938). "The Bedouin of Transjordan: Their social and economic problems". Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society.
9. Gardner, Frank. (23 April 2020). "Saudi tribe challenges crown prince's plans for tech city". [[BBC News]].
10. (5 October 2020). "Neom: Ancient Saudi tribe in danger of 'disappearing off face of the earth' to make way for vanity project".
11. "Saudi Arabia: UN experts alarmed by imminent executions linked to NEOM project".
12. Jankowicz, Mia. "Saudi Arabia is planning to execute three local tribe members who opposed its futuristic Neom-megacity project, UN experts warn".
13. Burton, R. ''[[s:The Land of Midian/Chapter 5. The Land of Midian]]'', Chapter 5.
14. (1935). "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc..