This guy learned how to play the Western establishment media, and he learned how to do so very well.
“How Syria’s rebel leader went from radical jihadist to a blazer-wearing ‘revolutionary,’” by Mostafa Salem, CNN, December 6, 2024:
Ahmed Al Sharaa, an Islamist militant in his late 20s, moved back to Syria from Iraq in 2011 with six men and a monthly stipend of $50,000 from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the world’s most wanted terrorist. His mission was to establish Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat Al Nusra.
Sharaa is now commanding thousands of men in an armed rebellion threatening to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He’s better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Born in the Saudi capital Riyadh to Syrian parents from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and raised in Damascus, Jolani said in an interview with PBS in 2021 that he was galvanized by the Second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel in the early 2000s and went on to become a jihadist in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. His deep knowledge of Syria caught the attention of his commanders in Iraq as they were looking to expand their foothold in Syria during the country’s uprising.
Over the years, his influence grew despite his identity being kept under wraps. During television interviews, he never faced the camera directly and always covered his face in public appearances.
His public debut was in a 2016 video when he announced a split from Al Qaeda to create what he said was a Syria-focused anti-regime front with other local factions, called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (the Front for the Conquest of the Levant), which later changed to Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), or the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant.
“This new formation has no relation to any external party,” he said at the time, distancing it from his radical Islamist past.
The split was strategic. The goal was to fend off attacks from world powers like the United States and Russia, both of which had intervened in the Syrian civil war to target Islamist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. It was also the start of Jolani’s gradual transformation from the classic anti-West jihadist, to a more palatable revolutionary. He told PBS in 2021 that he had no desire to wage war against Western nations.
Western-style blazer
In the years that followed, Jolani replaced his jihadist camo attire for a Western-style blazer and shirt, established a semi-technocratic government in Idlib, which his group held control over, and promoted himself as a viable partner in regional and Western efforts to curb Iran’s influence in the Middle East. He conducted operations against ISIS including the 2023 high-profile killing of ISIS leader Abu Hussein Al-Husseini al-Qurashi.“I believe that everyone in life goes through phases and experiences…As you grow, you learn, and you continue to learn until the very last day of your life.” he said when CNN asked about his transformation….
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Looks like a smoother talker than even Erdogan! But the looting of the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus by his men shows that his regime won’t be much different from the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, or the Hefazat-led regime in Bangladesh
Ernie says
What to expect from a battle-hardened very experienced JIHADI who is smart/intelligent and patient…. ? The fox may lose his hair…but not his cunning ( Dutch proverb ) . His master is allah , the father of lies and deceit , the evil one , satan . The kor’an his handbook …….what to expect….. I expect lots of suffering coming from this wicked , evil , and bloodthirsty man .
PMK says
Assad or Jolani? Which would you choose? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I’d pick Assad. He was just unlucky that all his 3 patrons – Russia, Iran and Hizbullah – all came apart at the same time
Theodore says
I think Syria will yearn for Assad when the warring factions move into action.
SKA says
Other voices among the rebels not so benevolent towards Israel: https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-syrian-rebels-vow-to-liberate-jerusalem-and-saudi-arabia/
Ernie says
More pure EVIL to come , the suffering … How sad . My G-d , have merci on us !
Billy says
Islam is totalitarian and requires totalitarian rulers to enforce laws and maintain order. Moreover, Islam is a deceitful, totalitarian, terrorist, pedophilic Criminal Gang Enterprise against all Non-Muslims by using discrimination, deceit, rape, hatred, and violence to gain ultimate power and control as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran. Moreover, Islam’s supremacist-genocidal Ideology, its tyrannical Muslims, its propaganda Schools, its foreign terrorist Organizations, and its ‘Convert-or-Die’ Mosques fund, teach, inspire, and promote ‘Threats and Incitement of Violence’ as well as never-ending terrorism, loathing, and segregation against women, children, and all Non-Muslims(eg. Quran 2:191-3; 4:89,100; 5:82; 8:65; 9:5,14-15,29; 33:26; 47:4; 65:4; 98:6-7 and more).
Dave says
“The Quran contains at least 109 verses that speak of war with nonbelievers, usually on the basis of their status as non-Muslims. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.”—‘TROP’
Dave says
Western attire and blazer?
Folks…a pig is still a pig…even if you put lipstick on it.
Put him in a tuxedo and you’ll nothing, but a turd in a tuxedo.
Northern Virginiastan says
Zelenskyy could take some lessons about dressing from al-Jolani.
St Croix says
An interview from 2021, with American journalist Theo Padnos, who spent two years as a captive of Al Nusra, which was under Mo al-Julani).
As to the idea of a rebrand of Abu Mohammed al-Julani (Julani=Golani, yes, Golan Heights. Keep that in mind as to what his future ideas, and inspiration as a youth, might really be).
This interview took place a few years ago, they’re talking about the PBS documentary with Martin Smith back then, and al-Julani’s attempt back then to offer a makeover, the kinder, wiser, legitimate leader. Obviously, he knew what his plan was, quite a while ago, and has worked at it steadily, and look at him now!
Don’t take al-Julani as anything but a maniac and future tyrant with big dreams for the whole middle east. Don’t believe anything he says as to “working together” and “room for all beliefs” etc. He might put that across initially, even for a few years, until the time is right. He knows what he is doing, and IMHO he’s playing the long game, which will include Israel, everything.
Will he get a chance to do so?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3S8MeXOnj4
St Croix says
“…we want the elimination of all minority groups in the region, the Druze, the Maronites, the Catholics, the Alawites…” said al-Adnani, the butcher torturer of the group…
That has not changed.
St Croix says
By the way, I DO NOT endorse this channel, Breakthrough News, they have a very anti-Israel stance which is sickening. However, this interview was only on the topic of the Syrian rebel group in question, and the leader, and the perspective of this former prisoner in Syria.
As usual, there is a dismaying and seemingly bottomless fountain of anti-Israel propaganda on the internet, I just have to not give it the time of day. What is always interesting to me though, is when someone who was indoctrinated comes awake, and it’s always interesting just how that can happen.
James Lincoln says
Ahmed Al Sharaa:
Still a snake in a suit.
James Lincoln says
Ahmed Al Sharaa:
Still a snake in a suit.