Draft:Kurdish Impact on Palestine

Kurdish impact on Palestine refers to the influence of the kurdish people on the region of Palestine. This is evident through various aspects of history, such as the leadership of Saladin during the Crusades, the migration of Kurdish Jews to Palestine, and the cooperation between Kurdish and Palestinian political groups.

Medieval Period
The Ayyubid Dynasty was established by the kurdish general Saladin (Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub) in 1171. Saladin played a crucial role in the Crusades, particularly in the Battle of Hattin in 1187, which led to the Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem.

After conquering the city, Saladin transferred a considerable portion of his army (large parts of his army were of Kurdish descent like himself) to Hebron to safeguard the sultanates borders against the Arab Bedouins. A Kurdish quarter still existed in Hebron during the early period of Ottoman rule. Some claim that as much as one third of inhabitants of Hebron are of Kurdish origin, where they have had their own quarters, such as Harat al-Akrad (Quarter of Kurds.)

Modern Period
Some Jewish Kurds had been active in the early Zionist movement (prior to Israels founding.) One of the most famous members of Lehi (Zionist terrorist group) was Moshe Barazani, whose family immigrated from Mandatory Iraq and settled in Jerusalem, Palestine in the late 1920s.

Jewish Kurds began mass immigrating to Israel after 1948. The number of Jewish Kurds in Jerusalem and Israel has steadily increased since the early 20th century. In 1939, there were 4,369 in Jerusalem, in 1972, there were 30,000 in Jerusalem. Today there are between 150,000 and 300,000 Jewish Kurds living in all of Israel, about half of whom live in Jerusalem.

Relations between the PLO and PKK during the 70s & 80s
During the late 1970s, Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), moved to Syria and established connections with Palestinian factions operating in Lebanon. The PKK cadres received military training in camps controlled by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Bekaa Valley. This training included guerrilla warfare tactics, explosives handling, and other military skills, which were crucial for the PKK’s insurgency against the Turkish state. The PKK’s collaboration with Palestinian groups extended beyond training. PKK fighters participated in defending Palestinian camps during conflicts, such as the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. They engaged in joint operations with Palestinian militants, which not only strengthened their military capabilities but also fostered a sense of solidarity between the Kurdish and Palestinian struggles.