Who is Palestinian Leader Ahmad "Abou Jihad" Jibril?

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Ahmad Jibril (Abou Jihad) is a Palestinian leader who founded the PFLP-GC. He was the Secretary General from its inception in 1968 until his death on Wednesday in Damascus.

"Abou Jihad" believed in the armed struggle to liberate Palestine, to which end he founded the PFLP-GC, a leftist nationalist Palestinian group that split from the PFLP, and chose to establish its headquarters in Damascus.  The group executed many operations against the Israeli occupation.

Early Life

Ahmad Jibril was born in 1938 in the village of Yazur in the suburbs of occupied Yafa to a Palestinian father and Syrian mother. They were forced to emigrate to Syria during the Nakba in 1948 and settled in the city of Quneitra with his uncles. After receiving his high school diploma in 1956, Jibril moved to Cairo to receive an "academic-military formation," graduating from the military academy in 1959.

Politics

During his studies in Egypt, Jibril became acquainted with the General Union of Palestinian Students, at which point he grew to become more acquainted with the idea of armed struggle.

In 1959, Jibril founded the "Palestine Liberation Front," after the "Algeria Liberation Front," which had influenced him. He would later merge with several leftist and nationalist movements to found the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" in 1967. The movement was led by George Habash, while Jibril led its military wing. He would later decide to break from Habash's front to found in 1968 the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command," which today carries out important operations against the Israeli occupation.

Jibril was also firmly against any negotiations with "Israel" in 1974 and remained close to Syria.

Military Operations

The "Al-Khalisa" operation of 1974 was one of the first guerilla operations executed by the "PFLP-GC." Three guerilla fighters entered the settlement of "Kiryat Shmona," north of Palestine, killing and wounding tens of Israelis.

The front was also experienced in kidnapping Israeli soldiers and exchanging them with Palestinians in Israeli prisons, like the "Al-Jalil" operation of 1985 in which 3 Israeli soldiers were exchanged with 1150 prisoners.

In November 1987, two of its fighters used a light paraglider, landing near "Kiryat Shmona," and killed two Israeli soldiers before being martyred themselves.

The PFLP-GC also carried out a large number of operations against the Israeli occupation during the occupation of the South of Lebanon between 1978-2000.

In 2002, "Israel" assassinated Jibril's son, Jihad Jibril, the head of the front's military wing in Tallet al-Khayyat, Beirut, by planting explosives on his vehicle. "Israel" considered Ahmad Jibril one of its worst enemies and had attempted to kidnap and assassinate him on numerous occasions.

Al-Mayadeen had broadcast a documentary entitled "Ahmad Jibril" in Arabic last year. This 12-episode documentary showcases the Palestinian freedom fighter's memoirs, life, and approach to the Palestinian cause in all stages, beginning from when he laid down the principles for the Palestinian revolution. 

The work is biographical and highlights many important stages in the history of the contemporary Palestinian revolution, and many of the nation's causes, through the lens of a Palestinian Pan-Arab freedom fighter that refused to settle on the Palestinian cause; a man who was one of the most important and greatest military leaders of the Palestinian cause.