al-Ṣāʿiqah

al-Ṣāʿiqah, Syrian guerrilla force sponsored by the Syrian government with the purpose of promoting the interests of the Palestinian branch of the Syrian Baʿth Party. Al-Ṣāʿiqah was founded by the party in 1968 and has maintained a socialist ideology. Chosen from the Palestinians in the upper ranks of the Syrian army, members viewed al-Ṣāʿiqah as an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and unsuccessfully challenged that group’s supremacy before engaging in guarded cooperation with...