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Fedayeen (from the Arabic fidā'ī, plural fidā'īyīn, فدائيون: "one who is ready to sacrifice his life") describes several distinct, primarily Arab groups at different times in history.
Islamic history
A group known as the Fedayeen were active from the 8th to the 14th century, and were described by their enemies as hashshāshīn: "those who habitually use hashish" ( The name "assassin" is commonly believed to be a mutation of the Arabic "haššāšīn" (حشّاشين, "hashish-eaters"). However, there are those who dispute this etymology, arguing that it originates from Marco Polo's account of his visit to Alamut in 1273, in which he describes a drug whose effects are more like those of alcohol than of hashish. It is suggested by some writers that assassin simply means 'followers of Al-Hassan' (or Hasan bin Sabbah, the Sheikh of Alamut (see below). Others suggest that since hashish-eaters were generally ostracized in the middle ages the word "Hashshashin" had become a common synonym for "outlaws". So the attribution of Hassan's Ismaili sect with this term is not necessarily a clue for drug usage. Some common accounts of their connection with hashish are that these "assassins" would take hashish before missions in order to calm themselves; others say that it helped to boost their strength, and turned them into madmen in battle. Yet other accounts state it was used in their initiation rites in order to show the neophyte the sensual pleasures awaiting him in the afterlife. The connection between their mysticism and that drug is not something subject to reliable or consistent historical accounts; this is not surprising given their secrecy and infamy.
Palestinians
Armed Palestinian militias known as the Fedayeen, constituted from the refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, made efforts to infiltrate and strike against Israeli towns, infrastructure and citizens. The Fedayeen were based in Lebanon and Jordan. The Fedayeen were recruited, armed and trained mainly by the PLO.
Iran
A Marxist radical guerrilla grouping 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 that culminated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Iraq
Beginning in 1995, Iraq established a paramilitary group known as the Fedayeen Saddam, loyal to President Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athist regime. 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, dosiers 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 "Fidain", 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 fighters in the Ottoman Empire before and during the First World War, who were protecting Armenian lives. The term was widely used and is still used to describe the volunteers, and can be found in literature and songs.
References
External links
Palestinian Fedayeen
Armenian Fidain
- Armenian History — see the heading "A New Political Climate"
Iraqi Fedayeen
"Fedayeen"