Everything about Fedayeen totally explained
Fedayeen (
fidā'ī, plural
fidā'īyun: meaning, "
freedom fighter(s)" or "self-sacrificer(s)") is a term used to describe several distinct, primarily
Arab militant groups and individuals at different times in history.
General
Fedayeen are a group of people known to be volunteers, not connected to an organized government or military, in the Arab and Muslim world. They are usually deployed for a cause where the government has been viewed as failure or non-existent. They are associated with the role of resistance against occupation or tyranny. The name fedayeen is used to refer to armed struggle against any form of enslavement basing their actions on resistance.
Palestinians
Armed militias known as the fedayeen, grew from
militant elements within the
Palestinian refugee population, as a result of the creation of
the state of Israel, and the ensuing loss of their lands and homes. The Fedayeen made efforts to infiltrate and strike against Israelis and their allies. Members of these groups were largely based within the refugee communities living in
Egyptian-controlled
Gaza,
Jordanian-controlled
West Bank, or in neighboring
Lebanon, and
Syria.
During this time (1948-c.1965), the word entered international usage and was frequently used in newspaper articles and political speeches as a synonym for great militancy. Since the mid-1960s and the rise of more organized and specific militant groups, such as the
PLO, the word has fallen out of usage, but not in the historical context.
Egypt
During the 1940s, a group of civilians volunteered to combat the British occupation of Egyptian land around the Suez Canal. The British had deployed military bases along the coast of the Suez Canal under the claim of protection. Egyptians viewed this as an invasion against their sovereign power over their country. While the Egyptian government didn't refuse the action, the people's leaders organized groups of Fedayeen who were trained to combat and kill British soldiers everywhere in Egypt, including the military bases. Those groups were viewed very highly among the Egyptian population. They were held in the ranks of heroes who sacrifice their lives for the good of their country.
Iran
Two very different groups used the name Fedayeen in recent Iranian history.
Fadayan-e Islam was an Islamic group founded by
Navab Safavi in 1946 for the purpose of assassinating what it believed to be enemies of Islam. After several successful assassinations it was suppressed in 1956 and several leading members were executed. It continued on under the leadership of Ayatollah
Khomeini and helped bring about the
Islamic Revolution of Iran(Citation Needed).
A
Marxist-leaning activist group known as the Fedayeen (Fadayian in Persian language) was founded in 1971 and based in
Tehran. Operating between 1971 and 1983, the Fedayeen carried out a number of political assassinations in the course of the struggle against the
Shah, after which the group was suppressed. That struggle continued however and eventually culminated in the
Iranian Revolution of 1979.
In 1979 the
Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas split from the
Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority).
Iraq
Beginning in 1995,
Iraq established a paramilitary group known as the
Fedayeen Saddam, loyal to President
Saddam Hussein and the
Ba'athist government. The name was chosen to imply a connection with the Palestinian Fedayeen. In July 2003, the personnel records of the entire Fedayeen organization in Iraq was discovered in the basement of the former Fedayeen headquarters in east
Baghdad near the Al-Rashid Airfield. At the time of the discovery, an Iraqi political party occupied the building. After an extensive cataloging process, dossiers of key Fedayeen members were made by
First Armored Division troops and resulted in a sweeping operation in Baghdad that led to the arrest of several Fedayeen generals.
Armenia
The similar name "
Fedayee", with the same
etymology, was used by
Armenian insurgents around 1990 when the dispute with
Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh was turning into the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, although Armenia is solidly
Christian. The term "fedayee" was also used by Armenian guerrillas in the
Ottoman Empire before and during the
First World War, who defended Armenians from persecution. The term was widely used and is still used to describe the volunteers, and can be found in literature and
songs.
Fictional references
In the popular science fiction novel
Dune, the elite
Fremen soldiers are known as the "
Fedaykin," an allusion to the word "fedayeen."
In the novel
Prayers for the Assassin, the main character Rakkim Epps is an ex-fedayeen soldier.
The Camel Club by David Baldacci (Chapter 37, page 215):
"Assembled here were his bomb makers and engineers, his shooters, his snipers, his
fedayeen, his mechanics, his inside people and his wheelmen."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fedayeen'.
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