Who is Abu Mohammed al Jolani. Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in 1982, leads an influential Islamist alliance in Syria. This coalition is credited by rebels with playing a pivotal role in toppling President Bashar al-Assad’s government and ending over five decades of Baath Party dominance in the country.
On Saturday, Syrian rebels announced their capture of Daraa, a southern city symbolic for being the epicenter of the 2011 uprising against Assad. This marked the fourth major loss for Assad’s forces within a week.
Once a shadowy figure, Jolani has recently stepped into the spotlight, conducting media interviews and appearing publicly in key locations like Aleppo. Under his leadership, Aleppo was wrested from government control for the first time during Syria’s protracted civil war.
Bashar al-Assad isn’t even gone yet, and legacy media is already treating Joulani’s HTS as the legitimate government.
Notice how the CNN lady has to cover herself to be allowed in the room with him.
— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) December 6, 2024
Who is Abu Mohammed al Jolani
Jolani’s early life began in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as a petroleum engineer. The family returned to Syria in 1989, settling near Damascus, a city his grandfather moved to after Israel occupied the Golan Heights. Jolani later moved to Iraq in 2003, joining al-Qaeda to resist the U.S. invasion. He was captured in 2006 and detained for five years, which stalled his ascent within the organization.
In 2011, as Syria’s uprising unfolded, Jolani returned home and established the Al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch. However, he diverged from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, refusing to pledge loyalty to him in 2013, and instead affirmed his allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s then-leader. This decision distanced him from the Islamic State group (ISIS), led by al-Baghdadi.
Jolani credits the second Palestinian intifada of 2000 as a key moment in his ideological development. At 17 or 18, he began seeking ways to support oppressed populations. Described as educated and articulate, Jolani’s middle-class upbringing influenced his approach to integrating Islam with practical realities. Unlike others, he believes religious practices should adapt to the complexities of the real world.
Today, Jolani’s legacy includes shaping the Al-Nusra Front into a dominant force in opposition-held territories, particularly in Idlib, while maintaining a nuanced stance within the Islamist spectrum of Syria’s ongoing conflict.
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