Fear of Sunni revenge is mixed with resentment against the Assads and their shabiha gangs, who have long tormented the coastal region, Alawites included. As the big families watch their sons in the military return home in coffins, these old intra-communal resentments are taking on new meaning. "Get off our backs already," Mohammad al-Assad and his thugs were told, according to one account.
The Khayyirs' bitter history with the Assads runs particularly deep. To them, the Assads are peasant upstarts. The Khayyirs are a notable family that boasts of having produced important cultural and religious figures. Following the shooting of Mohammad al-Assad, the story of the late poet, Hassan Khayyir, was circulated. The poet was executed at the hands of Hafez al-Assad in 1979 for criticizing the regime in one of his poems. They say his tongue was cut out - a particularly vengeful torture to a poet.
Mohammad al-Assad may have styled himself as the "sheikh of the mountain," but the Khayyirs always viewed the Assads as a lowly family that climbed to prominence by sheer force. These resentments were renewed two weeks ago, when the security services abducted veteran dissident Dr. Abdel Aziz Khayyir after he returned from a trip abroad. He remains detained.
One is tempted, therefore, to analyze the events in Qardaha as a direct challenge by the Khayyirs to Assad's leadership. That view is corroborated by an intriguing report, which claims that loyalists of Bashar's notorious uncle Rifaat joined the Khayyirs in protest. Rifaat, who is in exile in Europe, still dreams of a political role in Syria and has even floated himself as an alternative to his nephew. He also took a Khayyir as his fourth wife. But one must be careful before jumping to conclusions. Not only are the facts murky, but, also, the lines between the clans are opaque - precisely because of intermarriage, which all the Assads, not just Rifaat, have used to cement their primacy.
Although last Monday's street mobilization did not call for Assad's downfall, the embattled president was not about to tolerate open opposition from big Alawite families. That is why, according to Alawite activists, the regime is intent on setting an example. The shops of the Khayyirs and their confederates have reportedly been burned. And young girls from the Khayyir family are said to have been abducted to "teach the families a lesson."
Up until now, Assad has been able to rely on the Alawites' cohesiveness and support. But Alawite discontent could well be surfacing under the stress of war and the fear of retribution.
Time will tell whether Assad will be able to maintain communal solidarity.
