Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former jihadist better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has been presented in Western media as a pragmatic figure who has moderated his views. U.S. President Donald Trump and other Western leaders have treated him as a potential partner in Syria's future. But newly circulated video footage tells a starkly different story about the forces under his command.
The video, which appeared on social media, shows uniformed soldiers aligned with al-Jolani's movement standing in formation outside a building at night. Wearing red berets and military fatigues, the fighters are captured chanting songs filled with violent rhetoric and hateful language directed at Jews.
In the footage, the troops declare that "Gaza is our battle cry" and reference destruction and warfare. They continue with increasingly aggressive chants, shouting "bombing and destruction" and "we will not break." The soldiers then direct their threats explicitly at Jews, saying "I am coming for you, Jew" and "I am coming from the mountain of fire," with one fighter declaring "I will make a weapon from my body." The chants escalate to "in your blood, rivers flow," before concluding with repeated cries of "Allahu Akbar" and "Takbir."
