61-501: Syrian Civil War The Free Palestine Movement ( Arabic : حركة فلسطين حرة ) is a Palestinian Syrian armed movement and community organization that is led by the businessman Yasser Qashlaq and supports the Ba'athist government of Syria . The organization opposes the existence of Israel , and was mostly known for political activism and social services in favor of Palestinians in Syria and
122-567: A German court. According to local activists, the Free Palestine Movement is also involved in criminal business schemes which pressured residents of Yarmouk Camp to sell property under value to make way for a major reconstruction plan of the cityscape. The militia is reportedly supported by the Al-Shihabi Contracting Company, a company accused of obtaining building materials for free at the expense of
183-534: A coup d'état in 1963 . For several years, Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership, until in March 1971, General Hafez al-Assad , an Alawite , declared himself President . It marked the beginning of the domination of personality cults centred around the Assad dynasty that pervaded all aspects of Syrian daily life and was accompanied by a systematic suppression of civil and political freedoms, becoming
244-523: A festival in honor of Yasser Arafat on 11 November 2018. At some point in early 2019, the Free Palestine Movement sent detachments to take part in counter-insurgency operations in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, and contributed troops to the Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019) . In course of the latter campaign, its troops fought at Halfaya and al-Zakah . In October 2019, a FPM member
305-470: A full-blown civil war. Rebel forces, receiving arms from NATO and Gulf Cooperation Council states, initially made significant advances against the government forces, who were receiving arms from Iran and Russia . Rebels captured the regional capitals of Raqqa in 2013 and Idlib in 2015. Consequently, Russia launched a military intervention in support of the government in September 2015, shifting
366-477: A mass migration of farming families to urban centers. This migration strained infrastructure already burdened by the influx of some 1.5 million refugees from the Iraq War . The drought has been linked to anthropogenic global warming . Subsequent analysis, however, has challenged the narrative of the drought as a major contributor to the start of the war. Adequate water supply continues to be an issue in
427-569: A notable incident in May 2013, the " Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni Battalions", another armed group affiliated with the movement, fired two mortar shells at Israel Defense Forces positions on Mount Hermon . This was reportedly done in commemoration of Nakba Day . Troops of the Free Palestine Movement also operated in Hama in late 2017, and fought in the Battle of Deir ez-Zor (September–November 2017) . After
488-1957: A point of contention for United States since falling in the hands of ISIS, which were captured by American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in 2017. Protests, civil uprising, and defections (March–July 2011) Initial armed insurgency (July 2011 – April 2012) Kofi Annan ceasefire attempt (April–May 2012) Next phase of the war starts: escalation (2012–2013) Rise of the Islamist groups (January–September 2014) U.S. intervention (September 2014 – September 2015) Russian intervention (September 2015 – March 2016), including first partial ceasefire Aleppo recaptured; Russian/Iranian/Turkish-backed ceasefire (December 2016 – April 2017) Syrian-American conflict; de-escalation zones (April–June 2017) ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor broken; CIA program halted; Russian forces permanent (July–December 2017) Army advance in Hama province and Ghouta; Turkish intervention in Afrin (January–March 2018) Douma chemical attack; U.S.-led missile strikes; southern Syria offensive (April–August 2018) Idlib demilitarization; Trump announces U.S. withdrawal; Iraq strikes ISIL targets (September–December 2018) ISIL attacks continue; U.S. states conditions of withdrawal; fifth inter-rebel conflict (January–May 2019) Demilitarization agreement falls apart; 2019 northwestern Syria offensive; northern Syria buffer zone established (May–October 2019) U.S. forces withdraw from buffer zone; Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria (October 2019) Northwestern offensive; Baylun airstrikes; Operation Spring Shield; Daraa clashes; Afrin bombing (late 2019; 2020) New economic crisis and stalemate conflict (June 2020–present) Rif Dimashq offensive (February%E2%80%93April 2018) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
549-472: A political settlement have gone nowhere, leaving the Assad regime firmly in power. The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations said: The war whose brutality once dominated headlines has settled into an uncomfortable stalemate. Hopes for regime change have largely died out, peace talks have been fruitless, and some regional governments are reconsidering their opposition to engaging with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of most of
610-412: A stalemate, by early 2023. The United States Institute of Peace said: Twelve years into Syria's devastating civil war, the conflict appears to have settled into a frozen state. Although roughly 30% of the country is controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting has largely ceased and there is a growing regional trend toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over the last decade,
671-536: A threat. Violence in the war peaked during 2012–2017, but the situation remains a crisis. By 2020, the Syrian government controlled about two-thirds of the country and was consolidating power. Frontline fighting between the Assad government and opposition groups had mostly subsided by 2023, but there had been regular flareups in northwestern Syria and large-scale protests emerged in southern Syria and spread nationwide in response to extensive autocratic policies and
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#1732780665856732-418: Is "no reason for coexistence" between Israelis and Palestinians and that " Gilad Shalit [should] return to Paris. Let those murderers return to Poland. Once they are back there, we will hunt them down to the end of the world, and prosecute them for their massacres". He is reportedly close to the Syrian government. Yasser has said he had no links with Hezbollah . When Yasser first became politically active in
793-710: Is of great symbolic importance to the Palestinian diaspora , while Fatah al-Intifada got much-needed funds. Since then, the Free Palestine Movement mostly fought the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Yarmouk Camp, notably participating in the Southern Damascus offensives of March and April and May 2018 . In the latter operation the organization's military commander, Saed Abd Al-Aal,
854-495: The 2023 Ankara bombing , which the Turkish government alleges was carried out by attackers originating from Northeastern Syria. On November 27th, 2024 it was reported that in a sudden offensive rebels seized 13 villages, including the strategic towns of Urm Al-Sughra and Anjara, as well as Base 46, the largest Syrian regime base in western Aleppo. The non-religious Ba'ath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through
915-508: The Battle of Raqqa , the Islamic State was territorially defeated by late 2017. In August 2016, Turkey launched a multi-pronged invasion of northern Syria , in response to the creation of Rojava , while also fighting Islamic State and government forces in the process. Since the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire , frontline fighting has mostly subsided, but is characterized by regular skirmishes. In March 2011, popular discontent with
976-633: The Gaza Strip before 2012. Upon the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War , however, the Free Palestine Movement formed its own militias and has since then openly fought for the Syrian government against various rebel groups. The Free Palestine Movement was founded by Yasser Qashlaq, a Syria -born Palestinian businessman of considerable wealth who heads several organizations including the Lebanese Institute of International Studies,
1037-474: The Iran–Iraq–Syria pipeline . Syrian president Bashar al-Assad declined Qatar's year 2000 proposal to build a $ 10 billion Qatar–Turkey pipeline through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, allegedly prompting covert CIA operations to spark a Syrian civil war to pressure Bashar al-Assad to resign and allow a pro-American president to step in and sign off on the deal. Leaked documents have shown that in 2009,
1098-610: The Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama . Assad regime violently crushed the Islamic revolts that occurred during 1976–1982, waged by revolutionaries from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood . The Ba'ath party carefully constructed Assad as the guiding father figure of the party and modern Syrian nation, advocating the continuation of Assad dynastic rule of Syria. As part of the publicity efforts to brand
1159-712: The Syrian National Army and allied Free Syrian militias ). Another opposition faction is the Syrian Salvation Government , whose armed forces are represented by a coalition of Sunni militias led by Tahrir al-Sham . Independent of them is the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria , whose military force is the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic, Arab-majority force led by
1220-591: The " Al-Aqsa Shield Forces" in 2012. The Al-Aqsa Shield Forces mostly operate in Damascus, especially after an informal power-sharing agreement between the Free Palestine Movement and Fatah al-Intifada , another pro-government militia, in 2016. According to this agreement Yasser Qashlaq paid Fatah al-Intifada a substantial sum for handing over parts of their frontline at the Yarmouk Camp to the Free Palestine Movement. In consequence, Yasser and his movement could gain "valuable political capital" as defenders of Yarmouk which
1281-403: The 2000 Damascus Spring , Bashar al-Assad was widely reported as having failed to implement any improvements. In 2010, he imposed a controversial national ban on female Islamic dress codes (such as face veils ) across universities, where reportedly over a thousand primary school teachers that wore the niqab were reassigned to administrative jobs. A Human Rights Watch report issued just before
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#17327806658561342-770: The Autonomous Administration's Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkish forces currently occupy parts of northern Syria and, since 2016, have fought the SDF, IS and the Assad government while actively supporting the Syrian National Army (SNA). Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Syrian government traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. While officially neutral, Israel has exchanged border fire and conducted repeated strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian forces , whose presence in western Syria it views as
1403-468: The Ba'athist government led to large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. Numerous protests were violently suppressed by security forces in deadly crackdowns ordered by Bashar al-Assad, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and detentions , many of whom were civilians The Syrian revolution transformed into an insurgency with
1464-855: The CIA began funding and supporting opposition groups in Syria to foment a civil war. Harvard Professor Mitchell A Orenstein and George Romer stated that this pipeline feud is the true motivation behind Russia entering the war in support of Bashar al-Assad, supporting his rejection of the Qatar-Turkey pipeline and hoping to pave the way for the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline which would bolster Russia's allies and stimulate Iran's economy. The U.S. military has set up bases near gas pipelines in Syria, purportedly to fight ISIS but perhaps also to defend their own natural gas assets, which have been allegedly targeted by Iranian militias. The Conoco gas fields have been
1525-565: The Free Palestine Movement continued to be active in Idlib, where it held border posts at the frontline. In February 2020, seven members of the group were killed during clashes in the region. By 2021, the hashtag #freepalestine became increasingly popular in social media ; the hashtag along with the slogan "Free Palestine" were used by activists as a "standalone phrase, not connected to any one movement or institution". However, The Jerusalem Post journalists Shira Silkoff and Eve Young argued that
1586-498: The Free Palestine Movement took part in organizing the Freedom Flotilla II for the Gaza Strip in 2010/11. The group armed itself in 2011, with the news site Syria Indicator arguing that this was motivated by the need to suppress anti-Assad protests in the Yarmouk Camp. After the Syrian Civil War 's start, the Free Palestine Movement began to recruit for pro-government militias and founded its own paramilitary wing,
1647-536: The Kurdish YPG. Other competing factions include Jihadist organizations such as the al-Qaeda-branch Hurras al-Din (successor of Al-Nusra Front ) and the Islamic State (IS). A number of foreign countries, such as Iran , Russia , Turkey and the United States , have been directly involved in the civil war , providing support to opposing factions in the conflict. Iran, Russia and Hezbollah support
1708-537: The PLO during the reconstruction of Yarmouk Camp. Syrian Civil War Total deaths 580,000 –617,910+ Civilian deaths 219,223–306,887+ Displaced people Foreign intervention in behalf of Syrian rebels U.S.-led intervention against ISIL The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided conflict in Syria involving various state-sponsored and non-state actors . In March 2011, popular discontent with
1769-644: The Palestinian Yarmouk Camp of Damascus in 2003, he presented himself as supporting the Second Intifada . Since then, he organized the Free Palestine Movement as community organization which provided social services for Palestinians in Syria and rallied support for the Baa'athist government. Atlantic Council researcher Tom Rollins wrote that the organization serves as "vehicle for [Yasser Qashlaq's] political ambitions". According to Qashlaq,
1830-595: The Saraya Bader, the Al-Aqsa Shield Forces as well as the Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni Battalions. Like other pro-government militias in Syria, the Free Palestine Movement reportedly attracts new recruits with relatively high monthly salaries, as many young Syrian Palestinians are in precarious economic conditions due to the civil war and mass unemployment. By November 2018, 24 fighters had died while fighting in
1891-570: The Syrian Arab Republic militarily, with Russia conducting airstrikes and ground operations in the country since September 2015. Since 2014, the U.S.-led international coalition has been conducting air and ground operations primarily against the Islamic State and occasionally against pro-Assad forces , and has been militarily and logistically supporting factions such as the Revolutionary Commando Army and
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1952-594: The Syrian Civil War for the FPM. According to the pro-opposition site Zaman AlWasl and other investigators, two (ex-)members of the Free Palestine Movement, namely Mofeq AlDaouah and Mahmoud Arnaout, were involved in war crimes during the Syrian Civil War. They allegedly targeted and killed civilians during the Siege of Yarmouk Camp. In addition, Zaman AlWasl accused Mofeq of several cases of rape in Yarmouk Camp. Mofeq
2013-871: The Syrian-Palestinian Investment House, the Palestinian Businessmen's Club, and also owns a small Lebanese newspaper. He has been described as the "most famous real estate dealer in the Yarmouk Camp ". According to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Yasser called "Israeli pirates [...] dregs of European garbage", said Israelis were a "gang of criminal murderers", and that Israeli Jews were "human pieces of filth" who should be returned "back to their own countries". According to MEMRI, he has stated that there
2074-469: The U.S.-led coalition —of severe human rights violations and massacres . The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis , with millions of people fleeing to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan ; however, a sizable minority has also sought refuge in countries outside of the Middle East, with Germany alone accepting over half a million Syrians since 2011. Over the course of
2135-424: The Yarmouk Camp was fully secured by government forces in May 2018, some locals started to burn down their own houses to prevent them from being looted. In response, the Free Palestine Movement declared that these people would have to account for their actions, and that it would try to prevent further burnings. The group, along with as-Sa'iqa and Fatah al-Intifada , also started to lay off many of its fighters due to
2196-487: The balance of the conflict. By late 2018, all rebel strongholds except parts of Idlib region had fallen to the government forces. In 2014, the Islamic State group seized control of large parts of Eastern Syria and Western Iraq , prompting the U.S. -led CJTF coalition to launch an aerial bombing campaign against it, while providing ground support to the Kurdish -majority Syrian Democratic Forces . Culminating in
2257-531: The beginning of the 2011 uprising stated that Assad had failed to substantially improve the state of human rights since taking power. The United States and its allies intended to build the Qatar–Turkey pipeline which would relieve Europe of its dependence on Russian natural gas, especially during winter months where many European homes rely on Russia to survive the winter. On the contrary, Russia and its allies intended to stop this planned pipeline and instead build
2318-531: The central feature of state propaganda. Authority in Ba'athist Syria is monopolised by three power-centres: Alawite loyalist clans, Ba'ath party and the armed forces ; glued together by unwavering allegiance towards the Assad dynasty . The Syrian Regional Branch remained the dominant political authority in what had been a one-party state until the first multi-party election to the People's Council of Syria
2379-549: The civil society groups, political reformists and democratic activists that emerged during the Damascus spring in the 2000s. Bashar Al-Assad claims that no 'moderate opposition' to his government exists, and that all opposition forces are Islamists focused on destroying his secular leadership ; his view was that terrorist groups operating in Syria are 'linked to the agendas of foreign countries'. The total population in July 2018
2440-652: The civilian population. Upon Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad succeeded him as the President of Syria . Bashar's wife Asma , a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, was initially hailed in the Western press a "rose in the desert". The couple once raised hopes amongst Syrian intellectuals and outside Western observers as wanting to implement economic and political reforms. However, Bashar failed to deliver on promised reforms, instead crushing
2501-412: The conflict erupted into one of the most complicated in the world, with a dizzying array of international and regional powers, opposition groups, proxies, local militias and extremist groups all playing a role. The Syrian population has been brutalized, with nearly a half a million killed, 12 million fleeing their homes to find safety elsewhere, and widespread poverty and hunger. Meanwhile, efforts to broker
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2562-414: The country), Druze 3% and Jewish (few remaining in Damascus and Aleppo). Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, and it accelerated after Bashar al-Assad came to power. With an emphasis on the service sector , these policies benefited a minority of the nation's population, mostly people who had connections with
2623-633: The country, and Assad's hold on power seems secure. In 2023, the main military conflict was not between the Syrian government and rebels, but between Turkish forces and factions within Syria. In late 2023, Turkish forces continued to attack Kurdish forces in the region of Rojava. Starting on 5 October 2023, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a series of air and ground strikes targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeastern Syria . The airstrikes were launched in response to
2684-425: The decreasing need for them and lack of funds. Commander Saed Abd Al-Aal denied this, however, and claimed that the Free Palestine Movement had simply redeployed its fighters from Damascus to other war zones. When an Irish parliamentary delegation visited Yarmouk Camp in late July 2018 to evaluate the damage caused by the years-long combat, it was accompanied by Saed Abd Al-Aal. The Free Palestine Movement took part in
2745-487: The economic situation. The protests were noted as resembling the 2011 revolution that preceded the civil war. The war has resulted in an estimated 470,000–610,000 violent deaths, making it the second-deadliest conflict of the 21st century, after the Second Congo War . International organizations have accused virtually all sides involved—the Assad government, IS, opposition groups, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and
2806-685: The existence of the Free Palestine Movement of Syria resulted in "many" regarding the slogan "Free Palestine" as "a call to violent resistance against the State of Israel as a Jewish state". In December 2023, the Free Palestine Movement organized a "solidarity stand" in the Yarmouk Camp to protest against the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip . Other Syrian Palestinian individuals and representatives such as several Palestine Liberation Army officers and PPSF leader Khalid ʽAbd al-Majid also took part in
2867-595: The formation of resistance militias across the country, deteriorating into a full-blown civil war by 2012. The war is fought by several factions. The Syrian Arab Armed Forces , alongside its domestic and foreign allies, represent the Syrian Arab Republic and Assad government. Opposed to it is the Syrian Interim Government , a big-tent alliance of pro-democratic , nationalist opposition groups (whose military forces consist of
2928-462: The government, and members of the Sunni merchant class of Damascus and Aleppo. In 2010, Syria's nominal GDP per capita was only $ 2,834, comparable to Sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria and far lower than its neighbors such as Lebanon, with an annual growth rate of 3.39%, below most other developing countries. The country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates. At the start of
2989-461: The nation and Assad dynasty as inseparable; slogans such as "Assad or we burn the country", "Assad or to hell with the country" and "Hafez Assad, forever" became an integral part of the state and party discourse during the 1980s. Eventually the party organisation itself became a rubber stamp and the power structures became deeply dependent on sectarian affiliation to the Assad family and the central role of armed forces needed to crack down on dissent in
3050-531: The ongoing civil war and it is frequently the target of military action. The human rights situation in Syria has long been the subject of harsh critique from global organizations. The rights of free expression , association and assembly were strictly controlled in Syria even before the uprising. The country was under emergency rule from 1963 until 2011 and public gatherings of more than five people were banned. Security forces had sweeping powers of arrest and detention. Despite hopes for democratic change with
3111-429: The protest. The Free Palestine Movement is officially led by Yasser Qashlaq, while Saed Abd Al-Aal serves as the commander of the organization's paramilitary wing. Saed Abd Al-Aal is the son of Muhammad Abdel-Al, a member of the leadership of the Ba'ath Party's Palestinian branch in Syria and former Yarmouk Camp official. The armed forces of the Free Palestine Movement have been described as "rag-tag militia" and include
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#17327806658563172-536: The rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. After months of crackdown by the government's security apparatus, various armed rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army began forming across the country, marking the beginning of the Syrian insurgency . By mid-2012, the crisis had escalated into
3233-434: The society. Critics of the regime have pointed out that deployment of violence is at the crux of Ba'athist Syria and describe it as "a dictatorship with genocidal tendencies". Hafez ruled Syria for 3 decades with an iron first, using methods ranging from censorship to violent measures of state terror such as mass murders , forced deportations and brutal practices such as torture , which were unleashed collectively upon
3294-709: The war, a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations , but fighting has continued. In October 2019, Kurdish leaders of Rojava , a region within Syria, announced they had reached a major deal with the government of Syria under Assad. This deal was enacted in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria. The Kurdish leaders made this deal in order to obtain Syria's help in stopping hostile Turkish forces who were invading Syria and attacking Kurds. The civil war had largely subsided, settling into
3355-414: The war, discontent against the government was strongest in Syria's poor areas, predominantly among conservative Sunnis. These included cities with high poverty rates, such as Daraa and Homs , and the poorer districts of large cities. This coincided with the most intense drought ever recorded in Syria, which lasted from 2006 to 2011 and resulted in widespread crop failure, an increase in food prices and
3416-401: Was estimated at 19,454,263 people; ethnic groups—approximately Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10%, other 15% (includes Druze , Ismaili , Imami , Assyrian , Turkmen , Armenian ); religions— Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (mainly of Eastern Christian churches —may be smaller as a result of Christians fleeing
3477-408: Was held in 2012. On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, leading to a national crisis. The 1973 Constitution entrusted Arab Socialist Baath party with the distinctive role as the "leader of the state and society", empowering it to mobilise the civilians for party programmes, issue decrees to ascertain their loyalty and supervise all legal trade unions. Ba'athist ideology
3538-492: Was imposed upon children as compulsory part of school curriculum and Syrian Armed Forces were tightly controlled to the Party. The constitution removed Islam from being recognised as the state religion and stripped existing provisions such as the president of Syria being required to be a Muslim . These measures caused widespread furore amongst the public, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama , Homs and Aleppo organized by
3599-531: Was nicknamed the "Butcher of Yarmouk" for his actions. After moving to Germany as a refugee , Mofeq was arrested by the German police in Berlin on 4 August 2021. He was accused of having fired an anti-tank weapon into a crowd of civilians, who were waiting for UN food handouts on 23 March 2014 in Yarmouk Camp. At least seven people were killed in the attack. In February 2023, Mofeq was sentenced to life imprisonment by
3660-627: Was shot dead by unknown assailants in Da'el . Meanwhile, the FPM continued to demobilize fighters due to a lack of funds. From late 2019, the party's troops took part in the government's Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) . Around the same time, the Free Palestine Movement was also active in Latakia Governorate , where one of its fighters was killed at Salma . After the Northwestern Syria offensive's conclusion,
3721-511: Was wounded in combat. Fighters of the Free Palestine Movement have also fought in other areas of Damascus, including at Harasta in August 2017 and at al-Shaghour during the Rif Dimashq offensive of early 2018 . Though the Free Palestine Movement's activity is mostly concentrated in Damascus, the organization is known to have committed forces to fronts in other regions of Syria as well. In
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