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Ahmed Jibril (; – 7 July 2021) was a Palestinian militant and political leader who was the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). During the Syrian Civil War, Jibril was a notable supporter of the Assad government and PFLP-GC members helped government forces to fight the Syrian opposition. However, after clashes with rebels in Yarmouk Camp in Damascus, the PFLP-GC suffered defections and was forced to withdraw from the camp, and Jibril fled the city.


Early life

Born to a Palestinian father and Syrian mother, Jibril's year of birth is given by different sources as 1935, 1937 and 1938 and his place of birth as Yazur,
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, Ramla and
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
in Mandatory Palestine as well as Iraq and Syria. When the First Arab-Israeli War began in 1948, his family moved to
Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...
, Syria, where he was raised. He graduated from the Homs Military Academy and served in the Syrian Army from 1956 until 1958, rising to the rank of captain before being expelled as a suspected Communist. In 1959, he founded the Palestinian Liberation Front. Beginning in 1965, he worked closely with the leadership of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), including
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
. In 1967, he joined with George Habash to form the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization that combined Arab nationalism with the leftist ideology, and which was in conflict with Arafat.


Break from the PFLP

In 1968, Jibril broke away from the PFLP because of disputes over the more revolutionary Marxism advocated by Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh. He formed a new organization, the pro-Syrian "The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command" (PFLP-General Command). Jibril never wavered from his belief that Palestine could only be liberated through military attrition. He joined George Habash and other splinter groups which opposed negotiations with the Israeli government. He launched a variety of inventive attacks, including the " Night of the Gliders" on 25 November 1987.


Leader of PFLP-GC

Samuel Katz's ''Israel vs. Jibril'' distinguishes the PFLP-GC and Jibril's strategy from the rest of the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO) by its emphasis on military training and equipment, and not on declarations and publicity stunts. This caused the group to fail to make a significant mark on the public debate. Since 1994's Oslo Accords, support for the PFLP-GC dwindled among Palestinians. On 7 May 2001, the
Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...
seized a Palestinian boat filled with heavy weapons in the port of
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
. Jibril is believed to have been behind the shipment of weapons, which were bound for the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. During the Syrian Civil War, the PFLP-GC helped the Syrian Army to fight the Syrian rebels in and around Yarmouk Camp – a district of Damascus that is home to the biggest community of Palestinian refugees in Syria. Several members of the PFLP-GC's central committee opposed this alliance with the government and resigned in protest. By 17 December 2012, the rebels, which included Palestinians, had won control of Yarmouk. Jibril fled Damascus, reportedly for the Mediterranean city of Tartous. Palestinian left-wing groups—including the PFLP—berated Jibril and the PFLP-GC. One PFLP official said that Jibril "does not even belong to the Palestinian Left. He is closer to the extremist right-wing groups than to revolutionary leftist ones". On 18 December, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) denounced Jibril, saying it would expel him over his role in the conflict. In a 17 February 2017, Jibril did an interview with Al Mayadeen and expressed his hope that the Iranian military with others would fully back the future Palestinian war against Israel. Talal Naji succeeded Jibril as the secretary-general of the PFLP-GC.


Personal life

Jibril's son, Jihad Ahmed Jibril, who headed the PFLP-GC's military wing and was in line to replace Jibril as leader of the group, was killed by a car bomb in Beirut on 20 May 2002.


Death

Jibril died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
on 7 July 2021, in Damascus, Syria. After a funeral service in the Al-Othman Mosque in Damascus with his coffin draped in the Palestinian flag, he was buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.


See also

* Jibril Agreement * Kiryat Shmona massacre


References


External links


Ahmed Jibril and the PFLP-GC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jibril, Ahmed 1930s births 2021 deaths Palestinian Arab nationalists Palestinian militants Palestinian military personnel Palestinians in Syria People of the Syrian civil war Palestinian Liberation Front members Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members Palestinian murderers Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Military personnel of the Lebanese Civil War Syrian military personnel Palestinian rebels Palestinian emigrants to Syria