|
| Salah Abdul Hadi Jadullah, from his martyrdom tape. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.. |
Yesterday, a video biography of one of the two members of the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) who led the June 18, 2012 cross-border attack was posted on jihadist forums. In that attack, one Israeli civilian and at least two terrorists were killed after the MSC bombed and then opened fire on vehicles carrying construction workers near Israel's border with Egypt.
The nearly 25-minute video, which focuses on the Egyptian member of the cell, Khalid Salah Abdul Hadi Jadullah (a.k.a. Abu Salah al-Masri), is the first episode in a series called "The Journey of Martyrdom," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the video.
The narrator of the video claims that "[t]he Ummah [Muslim community] is in dire need today to study the biography of its martyred heroes, and it is in dire need to listen to the advice of its trustworthy sons."
According to the narrator, Jadullah grew up in the Marsa Matrouh governorate in Egypt, and following his father's death in 2004, he "decided to memorize the Book of Allah." Over time, "the love of jihad was deep in his limbs and he couldn't wait for the day when his feet stepped upon the battlefields," the narrator claims.
According to the biography, Jadullah fought in the Libyan revolution against Moammar Qadaffi. However, after being injured in his left leg, he returned to Egypt. "[H]is dream of martyrdom in the Cause of Allah on the Libyan soil had ended, and he was very sad and began searching for a new place for that martyrdom that always captivated his soul and body," the narrator claims. Upon his return to Egypt, Jadullah joined the MSC, "which found in him love and unprecedented longing to fight the Jews and achieve martyrdom."
After the narrator and other members of the MSC praise Jadullah, he is seen reading his will. In it, Jadullah, who is shown with two al Qaeda flags, two hand grenades, and an assault rifle, says that the solution to Ummah's problems "is through jihad in the Cause of Allah and with the Shariah of Allah to rule in the countries and among the people."
"Don't listen to the callers to democracy and idolatrous elections, for they are either ignorant or apostate traitors," he says.
Jadullah also slams Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip, for "changing the Shariah, implementing man-made laws, preventing jihad in the Cause of Allah, and pursuing and apprehending the Salafist mujahideen." He goes on to urge Salafi jihadists in the Gaza Strip to continue on their path "no matter what Hamas does against you."
The narrator concludes the video by saying that the story of Jadullah should act as a motivator for "the sons of the Ummah in general and the sons of Egypt in particular to incline towards their monotheist brothers who fight the enemies of the religion, seeking to liberate Muslim lands and implement the Shariah of the Lord of the Worlds." In addition, he says that "[t]here is no glory without jihad, and there is no living except that of the hereafter."
Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem
The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) is a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadist groups operating in the Gaza Strip including, but not limited to: Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ansar al Sunnah. Sheikh Anas Abdul Rahman, one of the group's leaders, has said that the group aims to "fight the Jews for the return of Islam's rule, not only in Palestine, but throughout the world."
The MSC has taken responsibility for a number of rocket attacks against Israel as well as the June 18, 2012 attack that killed one Israeli civilian. In November 2012, the group carried out joint rocket attacks with the Army of Islam. Following the institution of a ceasefire that ended Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, the MSC said that they were not truly a party to the ceasefire.
In July, the MSC released a 38-minute-long video in which it said that the June attack was "a gift to our brothers in Qaedat al Jihad and Sheikh Zawahiri" and retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden. On Oct. 22, the MSC released a 32-minute-long video detailing some of its rocket attacks against Israel and threatening to "fight you [Israel] as long as we hold...weapons in our hands."
In 2012, the Israeli Air Force targeted a number of MSC members. On Oct. 7, the IDF killed Tala'at Halil Muhammad Jarbi, a "global jihad operative," and Abdullah Muhammad Hassan Maqawai, a member of the MSC. Maqawai was likely a former member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On Oct. 13, Israel killed Abu al Walid al Maqdisi, the former emir of the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah, in an airstrike. The two men were said to be leaders of the MSC.