Category: Hayy’at Taḥrīr al-Shām

New video message from Hay’at Taḥrīr al-Shām: “Dangerous Moments, Episode Ten: Scenes of the Mujāhidīn of Liwā’ ‘Umar Bin al-Khaṭāb Storming the Positions of the Assad Militia Near the 46th Regiment, West of Aleppo”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

For prior parts in this video series: #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, #2 and #1.

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To inquire about a translation for this video message for a fee email: [email protected]

New statement from Hay’at Taḥrīr al-Shām’s Department of Political Affairs: “Twelve Years Of the Constant Struggle”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Hay’at Taḥrīr al-Shām’s Department of Political Affairs — Twelve Years Of the Constant Struggle

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Source: Telegram

To inquire about a translation for this statement for a fee email: [email protected]

New video message from Hay’at Taḥrīr al-Shām: “Even If You Should Be Within Towers Of Lofty Construction: Scenes From the Qualitative Operation of the Mujāhidīn From the Red Bandanas At the Summit of Tawrūs, North of al-Lādhiqīyah”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

The first half of the title of this release is in reference to Qur’anic verse 4:78. Here it is in full: “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, ‘This is from God’; and if evil befalls them, they say, ‘This is from you.’ Say, ‘All [things] are from God.’ So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?”

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To inquire about a translation for this video message for a fee email: [email protected]

Check out my new article with my colleague Sarah Cahn for Vox-Pol: “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Imagined Communities in its Proto-State”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

In recent years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been attempting to develop its own polity. This process has not been linear and there has been a maturation process over time. Beyond governance though, an important part of nation-building is creating a similar narrative of people’s own history and shared memory. As Benedict Anderson notes in his famous Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, nations or “imagined communities” are socially constructed, since not everyone in a polity knows someone, but are believed to share a similar history and experience. This is no different for HTS, which has since mid-August been publishing “briefs” through its municipal governance structure the “Administration for the Liberated Areas” on different cities, villages, and regions in the areas it controls. Therefore, there is an interplay that HTS is attempting to build between different areas it controls, connecting real world history that will hopefully bring people in its territory together to illustrate their similarities and thus establishing an “imagined community” amongst HTS’s polity.

Click here to read the rest.