{{Short description|Palestinian politician (1937–2021)}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2021}} {{bots|deny=Citation bot}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ahmed Jibril | image = Ahmed Jibril 2015-01-26.jpg | caption = Jibril in 2015 | native_name = {{nobold|أحمد جبريل}} | native_name_lang = ar | birth_date = {{circa}} 1937 | birth_place = Mandatory Palestine | death_date = 7 July 2021 | death_place = Damascus, Syria | office = Founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command | term_start = 1968 | term_end = 2021 | party = Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command | children = Jihad Ahmed Jibril (deceased) }}
'''Ahmed Jibril''' ({{langx|ar|أحمد جبريل}}; {{Circa|1937}} – 7 July 2021)<ref name="AP2021">{{cite news| title =Ahmed Jibril, head of Palestinian radical group, dies at 83| agency=Associated Press (AP)| date =7 July 2021| url =https://www.yahoo.com/news/ahmed-jibril-head-palestinian-radical-174212052.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink| accessdate =7 July 2021 |publisher=Yahoo News}}</ref><ref name="newsru.co.il">{{Cite news|script-title=ru:В Дамаске умер Ахмад Джабриль, один из основателей НФОП |trans-title=Ahmad Jabril, one of the founders of the PFLP, dies in Damascus |date=7 July 2021 |language=ru |location=Israel |website=NEWSru.co.il |url=https://www.newsru.co.il/mideast/07jul2021/ahmed_jibril_009.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181839/https://www.newsru.co.il/mideast/07jul2021/ahmed_jibril_009.html |archive-date=9 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/16/255444.html|title=Defectors from Syria-based Palestinian group seek arrest of fugitive leader|access-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141119135329/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/16/255444.html|archive-date=19 November 2014|url-status=dead|website=Al Arabiya|date=16 December 2012}}</ref>
==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, Ramla and Ramallah in Mandatory Palestine as well as Iraq and Syria.<ref name="nyt" /><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Pearson |first=Erica |url=https://archive.org/details/sageencyclopedia0002unse/page/316/mode/2up |title=Jibril, Ahmed |encyclopedia=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4129-8016-6 |edition=2nd |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |pages=316–7 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Svetlova |first=Ksenia |author-link=Ksenia Svetlova |date=2021-10-05 |title=The Lost Battle of Ahmad Jibril |url=https://jstribune.com/svetlova-profile-ahmad-jibril-pflp/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="AP2021" /><ref name="newsru.co.il" /> When the First Arab-Israeli War began in 1948, his family moved to Homs, Syria, where he was raised.<ref name=":0" /> He graduated from the Homs Military Academy<ref name="newsru.co.il" /> 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.<ref name="newsru.co.il" /> 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.<ref name="newsru.co.il" />
==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.<ref name="newsru.co.il" /> 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 (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 seized a Palestinian boat filled with heavy weapons in the port of Haifa. Jibril is believed to have been behind the shipment of weapons, which were bound for the Gaza Strip.
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.<ref name=afb30oct>{{cite news|title=Syria rebels 'clash with army, Palestinian fighters'|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jevFaBhWboO5_Mqrgpk7ycShh4RQ?docId=CNG.493b5bfef777e0c4e6e2103828c1614e.1b1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103211053/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jevFaBhWboO5_Mqrgpk7ycShh4RQ?docId=CNG.493b5bfef777e0c4e6e2103828c1614e.1b1|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|access-date=10 March 2013|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=30 October 2012}}</ref> Several members of the PFLP-GC's central committee opposed this alliance with the government and resigned in protest.<ref name=jibril-expel>{{cite web |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14427/ |title=Ahmad Jibril to be expelled from the PLO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219050940/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14427 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |work=Al Akhbar |date=18 December 2012}}</ref> By 17 December 2012, the rebels, which included Palestinians, had won control of Yarmouk.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=296510 |title=Capturing Yarmouk camp another Syrian rebel gain |date=19 December 2012 |access-date=10 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219135357/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=296510 |archive-date=19 December 2012 |work=The Jerusalem Post |first=Joanna |last=Paraszczuk |url-status=live }}</ref> Jibril fled Damascus, reportedly for the Mediterranean city of Tartous.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-palestinians-idUSBRE8BE09O20121215|title=Palestinian faction leader Jibril leaves Damascus: rebels|agency=Reuters|date=15 December 2012|access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> Palestinian left-wing groups—including the PFLP—berated Jibril and the PFLP-GC.<ref name=pflp-on-defense>{{cite web |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/pflp-on-defense-in-gaza.html |title=PFLP on Defense in Gaza Over Ties to Assad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216065211/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/pflp-on-defense-in-gaza.html |archive-date=16 February 2013 |work=Al-Monitor |date=27 December 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> 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".<ref name=pflp-on-defense/> On 18 December, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) denounced Jibril, saying it would expel him over his role in the conflict.<ref name=jibril-expel/>
thumb|Ahmed Jibril
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.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Middle East Media Research Institute |date=20 February 2017 |id=Clip #5905 |title=PFLP-GC Leader Ahmad Jibril: I Want To See Iranian Soldiers Fighting in the Galilee; We Shall March into Jordan on Our Way To All-Out War With Israel, Whether King Abdullah Likes It Or Not |url=https://www.memri.org/tv/pflp-gc-leader-ahmad-jibril-i-want-see-iranian-soldiers-fighting-galilee-we-shall-march-jordan |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>
Talal Naji succeeded Jibril as the secretary-general of the PFLP-GC.<ref>{{cite web|title=Talal Naji Appointed as Secretary-General of PFLP-GC|website=Action Group for Palestinians of Syria |date=21 July 2021 |url=https://actionpal.org.uk/en/post/12062/news-and-reports/talal-naji-appointed-as-secretary-general-of-pflp-gc| access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article675279.ece |title=Lebanon exposes deadly Israeli spy ring |work=The Times |date=15 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301205251/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article675279.ece |archive-date=1 March 2007 |access-date=22 April 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Death== Jibril died of heart failure 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.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |author=Traub |first=Alex |date=13 July 2021 |title=Ahmed Jibril, Militant Palestinian Leader Behind Attacks, Dies at 84 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/world/middleeast/ahmed-jibril-dead.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102032758/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/world/middleeast/ahmed-jibril-dead.html |archive-date=2 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ahmed Jibril, founder of pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla faction, dies at 83|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/ahmed-jibril-founder-pro-syrian-palestinian-guerrilla-faction-dies-83-2021-07-07/|agency=Reuters|date=7 July 2021|access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Head of radical Palestinian group laid to rest in Syria |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/head-radical-palestinian-group-laid-rest-syria-78749827 |date=9 July 2021 |publisher=ABC News |location=United States |access-date=1 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709105030/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/head-radical-palestinian-group-laid-rest-syria-78749827 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |first=Albert |last=Aji |agency=Associated Press |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ahmed Jibril, founder of pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla group, buried in Damascus|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ahmed-jibril-founder-pro-syrian-palestinian-guerrilla-group-buried-damascus-2021-07-09/|agency=Reuters|date=9 July 2021|access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Palestine|Biography}} *Jibril Agreement *Kiryat Shmona massacre
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1998598.stm Ahmed Jibril and the PFLP-GC] *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9577628/Bashar-al-Assad-betrayed-Col-Gaddafi-to-save-his-Syrian-regime.html How Jibril betrayed the hiding place of Gadaffi]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jibril, Ahmed}} Category:1930s births Category:2021 deaths Category:Palestinian Arab nationalists Category:Palestinian militants Category:Palestinian military personnel Category:Palestinians in Syria Category:People of the Syrian civil war Category:Palestinian Liberation Front members Category:Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members Category:Palestinian murderers Category:Arab people from Mandatory Palestine Category:People from Mandatory Palestine Category:Military personnel of the Lebanese Civil War Category:Syrian military personnel Category:Palestinian rebels Category:Palestinian emigrants to Syria