As-Sa'iqa (), officially known as Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War – Lightning Forces, () is a
Palestinian Ba'athist political and military faction created by
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. It is linked to the Palestinian branch of the
Syrian-led Ba'ath Party, and is a member of the broader
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO), although it is no longer active in the organization. Its Secretary-General is Dr.
Mohammed Qeis.
History
Background
1966 coup in Syria
As-Sa'iqa's roots go back to the
1966 coup d'état in
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. This
military coup overthrew
National Command purged the
Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
(which had
come to power three years earlier) of its "old guard" and the founders of
Ba'athism in general, sending people like
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq (, ; 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociology, sociologist and Arab nationalism, Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he ...
and
Salah ad-Din al-Bitar into exile and sentencing them to death in absentia.
New regime's policy
The coup brought to power the
most radical Ba'athist faction, which later became known as
neo-Ba'athism. The main ideologist of neo-Ba'athism and organizer of the 1966 coup was the military general
Salah Jadid, who began indirect but complete rule of Syria. Jadid was very radical, and carried out the same radical policies, both domestic and foreign. Domestically, he actively promoted and tried to harshly implement ideas bordering on
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
, actively persecuted any
religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
,
and intensified
state terror in the country.
In a result, Jadid successfully built a
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...
and
Marxist–Leninist state (sometimes called "
Neo-Marxist" by outside observers
) with brutal repression. Outwardly, he moved closer to the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and pursued very aggressive, provocative and in many ways reckless rhetoric against
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
At the same time, his relations with much of the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
were also poor:
his neo-Ba'athist regime was basically indifferent to
pan-Arab issues except for
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
,
and almost all of the Jadid's rule Syria was isolated from most of the Arab states.
The Jadid's regime pursued hardline policies and calling for the mobilization of a
people's war (
Maoist guerilla tactics) against
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
, which was expressed in its huge support for
leftist Palestinian fedayeen groups, granting them considerable autonomy and allowing them to carry out attacks on Israel from Syrian territory: Jadid continued supporting that concept even after catasrophic
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967.
Israel has repeatedly accused Syria of supporting Palestinian groups and their acts of violence. At the end of May 1967, the headlines of Syrian newspapers clearly stated that for the neo-Ba'athist regime, war was the only solution to the "Israeli problem".
According to Israeli sources, the regime in Syria initiated 177 border incidents and aided 75 Palestinian terrorist incidents between 23 February 1966 and 15 May 1967.
Early years
Formation of as-Sa'iqa
Just a few months after the coup, in September, Jadid's regime completed the formation of the
Palestinian paramilitary Ba'athist group called as-Sa'iqa, which carried out attacks on Israel from
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
ian and
Lebanese territory, but was completely under the control of the neo-Ba'athist regime in Syria.
As-Sa'iqa became a very important guerrilla group for the Jadid regime: it was present in neighboring Arab countries and also diminished the role of other fedayeen groups in Syria that were not created by him. For example, after the creation of as-Sa'iqa,
Fatah (another fedayeen group), under Syrian pressure, was forced to move its bases and training camps from Syria to Jordan.
Syria-controlled as-Saiqa successfully replaced the uncontrolled Fatah.
The group became active in December 1968, as a member of the
PLO. Syria tried to build up an alternative to
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
, who was then emerging with his Fatah faction as the primary Palestinian fedayeen leader and politician. As-Sa'iqa was initially the second-largest group within the PLO, after Fatah.
Assadist-Jadidist split
After the Six-Day War, the conflict between Jadid and
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...
, the defense minister, became very intense. Assad believed that Jadid's radicalism and aggressive policies had failed Syria and that a more moderate approach to the domestic and foreign policy situation was required. Although Jadid's regime gave a lot of support to the leftist fedayeen, Assad already then considered this a bad decision. In Assad's opinion, the militants were given too much autonomy in attacks on Israel, which provoked the Six-Day War: he demanded a strong reduction in the autonomy of the fedayeen and the transfer of control over them to the
army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
.
Assad also disagreed with the very essence of the concept of "people's war" promoted by Jadid.
The conflict often escalated from heated verbal disputes to military clashes between supporters of both sides: for example in 1969, Assad staged something very
much like a coup, during which an important ally of Jadid and the director of the
National Security Bureau (the central command of all Syrian
mukhabarats, i.e. intelligence services)
Abdul-Karim al-Jundi shot himself. Since the start of the conflict between Assad and Jadid, the Palestinian fedayeen have become another lever for the various factions who struggle for power. For example, as-Sa'iqa for those years had expanded into a large militia of thousands of fighters by 1969: Jadid used it as a counterweight to armed Assad's supporters.
Al-Assad takeover and Purge of As-Sa'iqa
As a result, as-Sa'iqa was unable to help Jadid stay in power. When al-Assad seized power in the November 1970 "
Corrective Revolution", as-Sa'iqa was purged and its leaders replaced with al-Assad loyalists (although Jadid loyalists held on to the as-Sai'qa branch active in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan until mid-1971, when they were arrested). As new Secretary-General (after Mahmud al-Ma'ayta, who had succeeded
Yusuf Zuayyin), al-Assad chose
Zuheir Mohsen, a Palestinian Ba'thist who had come to Syria as a refugee from
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. He was repeatedly promoted by Syria as a candidate for the post of PLO chairman, to replace Arafat, but never gained support from other factions.
With and against the PLO in Lebanon
As-Sa'iqa was used by Syria as a
proxy force in the Palestinian movement. While this has prevented as-Sa'iqa from gaining widespread popularity among Palestinians, it became an important force in the Palestinian camps in Syria, as well as in Lebanon. During the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
, Syria built the movement into one of the most important Palestinian fighting units, but also forced it to join in Syrian offensives against the PLO when relations between al-Assad and Arafat soured. This led to as-Sa'iqa's expulsion from the PLO in 1976, but it was readmitted in December the same year, after the situation had cooled down, and after Syria named this as a condition for further support for the PLO. The attacks on the PLO led to large-scale defections of Syrian-based Palestinians from the movement. As-Saiqa was also responsible for the
Damour massacre in 1976 and many other mass murders.
After Muhsin's assassination in 1979,
Isam al-Qadi became the new Secretary-General. The movement remained active during the Lebanese Civil War, and again joined Syria, the Lebanese
Shi'a
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
Amal Movement and
Abu Musa's
Fatah al-Intifada in attacks on the PLO during the
War of the Camps in 1984–85, and for the remainder of the Civil War (which lasted until 1990). This again led to mass-defections of Palestinians from the movement (Harris quotes the Syrian-aligned Amal Movement as complaining that the Syrian-backed Palestinian forces sent to attack the PLO were "
Abu Musa in the
Biqa'" but "become Abu nothing in the
Shuf and
Abu Ammar on arrival in
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
"), and reportedly its ranks were filled with non-Palestinian Syrian army recruits. After the end of the Civil War, the movement was nearly out of contact with the PLO mainstream, and exerted influence only in Syria and in Syrian-occupied parts of Lebanon. It kept lobbying within the PLO against the various peace proposals advanced by Arafat, and was part of the Syrian-based
National Alliance that opposed Arafat.
As-Sai'qa today
After the end of the Lebanese Civil War and the 1993 signing of the
Oslo Peace Agreement, as-Sai'qa has largely lost its usefulness to the Syrian government, and the state and size of the organization deteriorated. Today, it is wholly insignificant outside Syria, although it retains a presence in Lebanon (its future is uncertain after the end in 2005 of the
Syrian Army's presence in Lebanon). It is extremely weak in the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, non-existent in the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
,
East Jerusalem and
Israel within the Green Line, and has not been active during the
al-Aqsa Intifada. Its importance to Syria has lessened, both because the PLO has diminished in importance compared to the
Palestinian National Authority. As-Sai'qa boycotts PNA bodies, and its representative on the PLO Executive Committee also boycotts its sessions.
Following the outbreak of the
Syrian Civil War in 2011, as-Sa'iqa took up arms in support of the Syrian Ba'athist government, participating in numerous military operations such as the
Southern Damascus offensive (April–May 2018),
and the
2018 Southern Syria offensive. Having greatly diminished in numbers, the organization's forces had suffered just 30 fighters
killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
by April 2018.
By August 2018, As-Sa'iqa began to lay off a substantial number of its fighters, mostly because they were no longer needed and because of lack of funds.
After the
fall of the Assad regime
On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...
in late 2024, the
Syrian transitional government demanded that all Palestinian armed groups in Syria disarm themselves, dissolve their military formations, and instead focus on political and charitable work. Representatives of the new government also raided the offices of as-Sa'iqa,
PFLP-GC, and Fatah al-Intifada, confiscating documents, equipment, and weapons. The new Syrian government ultimately allowed as-Sa'iqa to continue its political activities, with the party reshuffling its leadership "to strengthen the faction's Palestinian role". On 8 February 2025, as-Sa'iqa reopened its offices in the Al-A'edeen Camp in
Hama, prompting protests by locals who demanded that the party be held responsible for violations during the civil war.
Secretary-Generals
*
Zuheir Mohsen (1971–1979)
*
Isam al-Qadi (1979–2006)
*Farhan Abu Al-Hayja (2007–2018)
*Mohammed Qeis (2018–present)
Organization and structure
Since 2007, Farhan Abu Hayja has been Secretary-General of as-Sa'iqa. Muhammad al-Khalifa is its representative on the
PLO Executive Committee
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC; ) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and acts as the Palestinian government, government of the State of Palestine. , but boycotts sessions of the PLO EC. During much of the 1970s, as-Sai'qa's representatives in the PLO EC (Muhsin and al-Qadi) held the prestigious and sensitive post of Head of the Military Department, which reflected the military importance of the movement in those years.
Syrian backing in the 1970s gave as-Sa'iqa a military weight far greater than its political influence, which has always been small. During the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
, it was often the second largest Palestinian faction in fighting strength, after Yassir Arafat's
Fatah movement.
Under the name Eagles of the Palestinian Revolution - possibly the name of the armed wing of as-Sa'iqa - the organization committed a number of international
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
attacks. Among these was the 1979 takeover of the
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian embassy in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
(although attributed to Fatah) and a kidnapping of Jews emigrating by train through
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
from the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
Since the early 1990s, the organization has not committed any known attacks, and it is not listed on the
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Ideological profile
As-Sa'iqa's political agenda is identical to that of
Ba'athist Syria, i.e.,
Arab socialist,
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
and strongly committed to
Pan-Arab doctrine. While this reflects its Ba'thist programme, it has also used Pan-Arabism as a means of supporting the primacy of its sponsor, Syria, over the
Arafat-led PLO's claim to exclusive representation of the Palestinian people. Thus, it rejected "Palestinization" of the conflict with Israel, insisting on the necessary involvement of the greater Arab nation. This occasionally went to extremes, with as-Sa'iqa leaders denying the existence of a separate Palestinian people within the wider
Arab nation.
The group has generally taken a hard line stance (reflecting that of Syria) on issues such as the recognition of Israel, the
Oslo Accords, and other questions of Palestinian goals and political orientation. It was a member of the 1974
Rejectionist Front, despite supporting the
Ten Point Programme that initially caused the PLO/Rejectionist Front split.
See also
*
Damour massacre
*
Aishiyeh massacre
*
Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...
*
Arab Liberation Front
*
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
*
Fatah al-Intifada
*
Palestine Liberation Army
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Attacks attributed to Saiqa on START databaseAttacks attributed to the "Eagles of the Palestinian Revolution" on START
{{Palestinian political parties
1966 establishments in Palestine
Anti-Israeli sentiment in Palestine
Anti-Israeli sentiment in Syria
Arab nationalism in Palestine
Arab nationalist militant groups
Ba'athist parties
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
Factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Foreign relations of Syria
Palestinian militant groups
Palestinian nationalist parties
Political parties established in 1966
Socialist parties in Palestine
Pro-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war
Axis of Resistance