Da'el داعل | |
|---|---|
 Town Square of Da'el | |
  Da'el Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:32°45′14″N36°07′48″E / 32.75389°N 36.13000°E /32.75389; 36.13000 | |
| Grid position | 255/240 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Daraa |
| Subdistrict | Da'el |
| Control | Syrian Opposition |
| Elevation | 600 m (2,000 ft) |
| Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 29,408 |
Da'el (Arabic:داعل, also spelledDa'il) is atown in southernSyria located on the old road betweenDaraa andDamascus, located approximately 14 kilometers north ofDaraa. Administratively, it belongs to theDaraa District of theDaraa Governorate and is the center of the Da'elnahiyah ("subdistrict") which also includes one other town,Abtaa, to the immediate north. Other nearby localities includeTafas to the west,Ataman to the south,Khirbet al-Ghazaleh to the east,Namir andQarfa to the northeast,al-Shaykh Maskin to the north andal-Shaykh Saad to the northwest.[1]
As of the 2004 census by theCentral Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the population of Da'el town was 29,408, while the Da'el subdistrict was 43,691.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantlySunni Muslim.[2] The inhabitants are mainly involved in agriculture of grains (wheat, beans, olives, grapes, etc.) and expertise manpower in somePersian Gulf countries (UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Qatar).[citation needed]
The city was recently modernized with a new wave of services such as high-speed internet, full cell-phone coverage, new land line phones with a boom in construction field. Government employees do not exceed 5% of the town's population while the rest operate their own businesses.[citation needed]
In 1596 Da'el appeared in theOttomantax registers as Da'il and was part of thenahiya ofBani Malik al-Asraf in theQada Hawran. It had an entirelyMuslim population consisting of 42 households and 20 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including onwheat,barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to on a water mill; a total of 16,000akçe.[3]
In 1838 Da'el was classified as a Muslim village, located south ofal-Shaykh Maskin.[2][4] At the end of the 19th century, the village had 300 inhabitants and 65 houses.[5] Throughout the later Ottoman era and up until the dominance of theBa'ath Party during the 1960s, the al-Hariri clan, which had its principal seat in Da'el, was the most powerful clan in theHauran region of southern Syria, controlling about 18 villages.[6] The al-Hariri family had also been the chief patrons of theRifa'i order ofSufi mystics in the Hauran. The Rifa'i were the most prominent Sufi order in the area.[7]
During theFrench occupation (1918–1946), the al-Hariri clan entered into a rivalry with the Zu'bi clan which was based in nearbyKhirbet al-Ghazaleh and controlled 16 villages. The al-Hariri were largely aligned withnationalist movement, while the Zu'bi leadership was identified with the French Mandatory authorities.
While the al-Hariri naturally benefited from Syrian independence and also received backing fromSaudi Arabia, the Zu'bi managed to gain more influence during Baathist governance, but more so on the individual and lower-stratum level rather than as a tribal unit. The influence of both the tribes and their leaders considerably dwindled during the Baathist era, nonetheless.[6]
In March 2011 Da'el was among the first towns in the area ofDaraa where residents participated in demonstrations against the government ofBashar al-Assad,[8] which would eventually culminate into the ongoingSyrian civil war. On 29 March 2013 the town was reportedly captured by anti-government rebels. Da'el is strategically located on one of two main north-south highways that connect Damascus to Daraa. The rebels initially engaged in clashes withSyrian Army troops manning checkpoints outside the town, leaving 12 government soldiers and 16 rebels, according to the activist groupSyrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).[9]
Capital:Daraa | |||||||||||||||||||||
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