He literally worked with Abu Baghdadi and then pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda:
A 2021 PBS interview with Jolani revealed that he was born in 1982 in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as an oil engineer until 1989.
Jolani's journey as a jihadist began in Iraq, linked to al-Qaeda through the Islamic State (IS) group's precursor - al-Qaeda in Iraq and, later, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).
After the 2003 US-led invasion, he joined other foreign fighters in Iraq and, in 2005, was imprisoned at Camp Bucca, where he enhanced his jihadist affiliations and later on was introduced to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the quiet scholar who would later go on to lead IS.
In 2011, Baghdadi sent Jolani to Syria with funding to establish al-Nusra Front, a covert faction tied to ISI. By 2012, Nusra had become a prominent Syrian fighting force, hiding its IS and al-Qaeda ties.
Tensions arose in 2013 when Baghdadi's group in Iraq unilaterally declared the merger of the two groups (ISI and Nusra), declaring the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), and publicly revealing for the first time the links between them.
Jolani resisted, as he wanted to distance his group from ISI's violent tactics, leading to a split.
To get out of that sticky situation, Jolani pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, making Nusra Front its Syrian branch.
The HTS chief has evolved from jihadist leader to rebel statesman while fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
www.bbc.co.uk
Maybe you are fooled because he changes his name and wears a suit and hugs Donald Trump, but his history is in the public record and you can't demand everyone erase it from their memory just because you don't like it.
You think him changing his name is what does it for us? LOL, he had a real name to begin with, Jolani was his adopted fighting name, just like Baghdadi was, or did you not know that?
Everyone knew all the info about his past, and frankly much much more than that. This is just elementary info, you don't think we went and researched everything we could find about him? You don't need to educate us about who he was and list a few token points about his history. The amount of reductive thinking your side seems to have it frankly embarrassing, you guys just aren't big on research and analysis to learn as much as possible and be as accurate as possible huh? Just find a couple thing that fits your preconceived narrative and conclusions and call it a day
The bottom line for us is, is that he not only renounced the organization long ago, he also has proven with his actions more and more that he no longer cares about it and it's ideology, and has shown that through action, first and foremost. Words are meaningless, everyone's are, they are nothing until you see a track real record of actions, that's what reveals the truth.
And finally, you really don't seem to realize that the Al-Nusra front organization, the previous AQ in Syria has been completely disassembled and new groups have taken it's place with several other rebel groups that were shipped into to Idlib after they took a reconciliation deal during the lull in the violence. And then that process happened many times over the past decade, where now all the major rebel groups, you know the ones that sprung up organically and independently in the South in Daraa, in Ghouta, Rif Dimashq, Hama, Homs and elsewhere, all of which existed before Al-Nusra did, and all have nothing to do with it, and all sprung up locally on their own, and all far larger than Nusra ever was by a significant margin, all now constitute the overwhelming part of the government and are key players in it. They all merged together over the years after Al-Nusra renounced AQ and dissolved, and it happened several times over before we got the current group that runs the government. But all those details must all be just too inconvenient to consider or learn about for you, it's just one man you need to focus on, nothing else matters, details, nuance, facts, all completely irrelevant. Just simpleton slogans and memes, that's all that is needed for you.
Did you even realize that little important little fact? That's why it's no longer a concern for us, because the old Al-Nusra is long gone, and the new amalgamated group has proven they don't believe or act in the same way, and most importantly, the are made of completely different people that never had any connection or affiliation to the previous group or AQ. And hence why they aren't AQ at all, in anything, not name, action, or beliefs.
It's really fucking simple if you even bothered to look into it or put any honest thought into the matter, updated your information and understanding of the conflict as it evolved, and actually sought out the truth rather than remain fully committed to a one sided propaganda narrative that has been the end all be all from the very beginning of the conflict to justify your sides presence and support for a brutal tyrant in a completely different country and against peoples that have nothing to do with you. And yet you just continue to refuse to change or evolve your thinking based on anything that actually happens or any relevant facts, as if it's really just you insisting on having a single minded sectarian driven purpose to find any reason to continue spewing hatred and never let this go irrespective of anything else. It's like all your crimes against us is not enough for you guys, you just have to keep on adding salt to the wound, you need to come back for more and add insult to injury as much as possible whenever you can.
It's getting tiresome. Maybe look at you own government and demand them to get better and start reflecting your own hopes and dreams, maybe that will help you take your focus off of us and redirect it to something actually useful and productive for you guys. Clinging on to this bigotry against us because you just can't let this go is just. sad. Tell your Islamic extremist regime to stop being so fanatical and archaic in the way they govern, and then maybe then you family can have a better life and future and you'd never have to think and us again and be so bitter about how much time, money and energy they wasted on keeping us oppressed here with nothing to show for it, like as if it was your God given right to oppress us and abuse our people and country and keep us under your boots to begin with. It's so fucking bizarre that you act like you are the agrieved party when you were the perpetuator and supported of untold crimes against us. That's a serious mental illness you guys need to address and fix.
Bottom line is that he hasn't been part of AQ and rejected it a decade ago and has proven consistently he no longer has any affiliation to it in any way, beliefs or actions. Even more importantly, almost the entirely of the government never had or currently has any association with AQ or history with it, and they constitute former rebel groups that have a track record we can have confidence in. Until they all just magically pledge allegiance to AQ and declare themselves one, stop your sinister attempt to smear us. Your people have done enough damage, that mentality needs to change.
