Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem

Introduction 

Terrorism activities are among the worst things that are threatening human survival in the twenty-first century. Every year hundreds of lives are lost because of terrorist activities. Typically terrorism acts are horrifying, traumatizing, and death-causing and they are known to cause massive destruction to properties. Scholars have described terrorism as a tactic or a strategy used to achieve a specific end- this might be political, economic or religious.

Terrorism is evident when there is asymmetrical power struggle; this happens when a weaker group wants to fight a powerful nation. The violence that is launched on this target country will is mostly intended to cause fear in the population and may provoke counter attacks. Therefore this act becomes a cycle as a group attacks a nation and it goes on to counter. Hence, the resultant violence may be extensive and hard to stop (Moniquet, 2013).

Nowadays terrorist groups like the Islamic state are moving to the internet to recruit followers. They are also using mainstream media and social media to make an announcement and cause fear in the population and their targets. Some countries have also adapted to terrorist strategies to safeguard their interests and push for their ideologies. For instance, Iran has been using Hezbollah in Lebanon to attack Israel. The US was known to support brotherhood in Egypt to bring down the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser (Wejkszner, 2015). Mujahideen were also used in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union, soldiers.

Motivation of Terrorist Groups 

It is perceived that terrorist groups are usually motivated by some social, economic and political unfairness that people have been subjected to. They also follow radicalized beliefs aligned to some religious and spiritual principles. Warfare between races has also been reported to be a source of motivation for terrorist acts. The rivalry between the rich and the poor and the battles originating from the political outcasts and the elites might also result in terrorist activities (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016).

Famous terrorist groups 

Initially, the terrorist was few, and they only existed in some selected regions of the world. But due to radicalizations and divisions within the group's subsidiary terrorist groups have come up. Al-Qaida was one of the worst and most highly organized terrorist groups in the world. For decades it has been fighting America by launching bomb attacks to its people and affiliates (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016). It has also participated in massive pirate activities where it has seized the weapon and treasured material belonging to wealthy countries.

Mujahidin Shura council is another terrorist group that has its roots in the middle and is ranked among the worst terrorist group in the region. The US classified the Mujahidin Shura Council in the environs of Jerusalem as a foreign terrorist organization in 2014 and labeled it a group bound for the global terrorist entity (Bongers, 2014). The group was also described the US State Department as an umbrella group made up of several jihadist terrorist subgroups based in Gaza.

Overview of Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem 

Composition 

The Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) is composed of smaller jihadist groups and has been conducting terrorist attacks in Israel, Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula. The group is also known as the council consultation of the Mujahidin or the council of consultation of the mujahedeen in the environs of Bayt al Maqdis. It was formed at around 2012 in the Sinai Peninsula (Moniquet, 2013). The group was intentionally formed in order to attack Israel or the Bayt al-Maqdis (the Holy House). Quite specifically the Holy house being described here is Jerusalem city in Israel. The group carried out a rocket attack targeting Israel in 2013 (Bongers, 2014).

The group has been expanding its operations in Israel, Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. The group has been challenging activities for Hamas. The group has shown indications be in support of insurgency activities in Egypt and Syria. The group is composed of smaller jihad group such as Jahafil Al tawhid Wal-Jihad fi first and Ansar al-Sunnah and Jund Ansar Allah (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016). According to the global security organization, the group has links with the Al-Qaida in Iraq, the Islamic state of Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. They work on the same ideology, and they are highly armed.

The group has been in existence for less than five years, and its organizations have not been well documented. Though there are fewer details about the group, it operates as a council and has several leaders. In 2015 one of its key leaders, Abdullah al Ashqar was named as the specially designated global terrorists by American intelligence (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016). AShqar is a Palestinian national and is the identified leader of the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem.

Ashaqar is an influential leader in the group and holds multiple leadership positions in the terrorist group. He is reported to have served in the military committee and is a key foreign relations official of MSC. He also sources for weapons such as missiles for the group. His major role in acquiring weapons was used in acquiring weapons for attacking Israel and Egypt.

The group is closely related to Tawhid and Jihad group in Jerusalem. The leaders of these groups are reported to be key decision makers in the MSC group. Ansar al-Sunnah is another key leader of the group (Bongers, 2014).

Founding of the MSC 

The group had been in operations in Egypt and Israel for quite some time even before 2012. However, it was officially announced to be a terrorist group in 2012. It was formed by Salafist Islamist leader Hisham Al-Saedni. He is also known as Abu al Walid Maqdisi. He is in charge of the group and leads violence against the Jews. He was also the leader of Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin. He was killed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza in October 2012 (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016).

There are unclear results on the groups rank in the global jihad. There has also been an unclear detail on the side in which the group is more attached to. This is because the MSC groups declared its support of the Islamic State terrorist group the day Al-Qaida disowned the IS group. The reason behind Al Qaeda denouncing Islamic State was suspected to be a leadership dispute within the faction. MSC later declared its support for the al Qaeda operations in the region as well as its support for its leaders (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016). During its founding in 2012, the announcement was made through a video and shared in Islamic forums. The announcement and the founding were perceived to use a lot of Al-Qaeda terminology. In the video a masked operative claimed that the group had come to existence after the threat of Sunni Muslims which was president pharaoh had been overthrown and after the Alawite tyranny (Bashar Assad) had been destabilized. The groups are therefore said to be fighting for Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and the neighboring countries. They claim to be “restoring the Rule of Allah” (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016). The group works closely with other jihad groups in a bid to close ranks and plan next stage in the Jihad warfare.

MSC works in the Arab world with the aim of “restoring Muslim caliphate.” They are against the Israel influence in the Middle East region and especially its attacks on Palestine (a Muslim country). In a video, the MSC operatives claimed that “the cup (Israel) made the Muslims drink form will be used to make (Israel) drink poison … we will only return (our swords) to their sheaths after they are covered with your blood after we put an end to all of you...” (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016).

Membership and Funding 

The mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem is reported to have several hundred fighters based in Egypt, Israel, Gaza and surrounding countries. The groups funding and external Aid access are not specified. However looking at how other jihad groups in the region get and access funding would point out on passel sources for capital for the group. The group is closely related and supported by the IS and ISIL terrorist groups. The MSC is classified as one of the Salafi jihad terrorist groups (Moniquet, 2013). Mostly these groups get funding from nonstate channel such as Islamic aid organizations. The Jihad groups also get funds from wealthy business families around the Middle East and clan support from the local communities.

There have also been speculations through intelligence reports that Qatar and Saudi Arabia has been funding the Salafi terrorist groups. They have also been supplying them with small arms. The terrorist has been demanding for his states to supply heavier weapons. Different donors and sponsors fear to supply such heavy weapons because they fear it can cause massive deaths and destruction (Moniquet, 2013). The funds received by the jihad groups from different sources are used to attract volunteers, purchase better equipment and also offer month salaries to the fighters. Countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are funding jihad umbrella group like the Mujahidin Shura Council in the environs of Jerusalem in order to eliminate favoritism of representatives in the groups (Wejkszner, 2015). The military council led groups usually benefit frequently form this kind of funding.

Mujahidin Shura Council Believe and Ideology 

The jihad operatives are typically known to be fundamentalists, extremists, and they believe that their lives are designed to serve in the holy war; based on their religious inclination which in most cases Islam, these radicalized individuals think that people from other religions are their enemies and enemies of their ideologies and ways of life (Moniquet, 2013). However, scholars claim that there is more to the warfare that just the enemy driven on faith and religion. The attacks they launch on their supposed enemies are not just random attacks. What is presented by the media is just a tip of the iceberg. Frequently the media presents cases of Muslims being killed, Christians being slaughtered or churches being torched. In some circumstances, they will highlight incidences of Jews being attacked or terrorist attacking passengers on a bus or a train (Moniquet, 2013). The activities are seen to be random, and people from all religion, faiths, and races are being attacked. These attacks often lead to counterproductive attacks by the victim groups.

The jihad attacks are rational, systematic and have well-thought strategies that they follow rigorously. The jihad terrorist differ from historical anarchist and communist in the sense that they have ideologies that they believe is so important and must be followed strictly by all their operatives. For instance, the Mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem is a group that was formed to attack Israel and its friends (Moniquet, 2013). Israel has been seen as an enemy of the Sunni Muslims in Palestine, Israel, Iraq and other countries in the regions. Ideally, the Mujahidin Shura council has been unleashing attacks in Israel and the Gaza region to challenge the influence and the military abilities of the Israel Government (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016).

Typically the jihad, including the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem, is evidently seen to use two popular strategies; the grand strategies and the military strategies. The grand strategies are c common to the entire terrorism jihad group, and it is perceived as a unifying factor. It is a strategy that keeps them on track, and tit holds the groups together. With these grand strategies, the jihad terrorist wants to restore the greatness of their visions of Islam, and they are trying to defeat every enemy of Islam this is the reason they are attacking non-

Muslims Countries and States across Africa, Europe and America 

Ideally, the tactics used in achieving the grand strategy is almost the same to all of them. The jihad groups have a common vision of establishing an Islamic state covering most of the Middle East. The war in Syria and Iraq is believed to be motivated by the jihadist mission of establishing the Islamic state (Moniquet, 2013). The jihad groups are evidently using violence a military means to incapacitate their rivals and non-friendly states and their governments (Wejkszner, 2015). For instance, the Mujahidin Shura council has been fighting in Egypt to bring down the leadership of people they think are enemies of Islam. They are also using this strategy in an attempt to win over the Islamic world and the push the vision of Islamic faith. In using the grand strategy, they hope to restore Islam to an influential faith bound for greatness (Moniquet, 2013).

With the grand strategies group like the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem, are trying to take an immense number of enemies. Categorically these groups take on the peoples and states they classify as the west, the Jewish crusaders, the agent rulers, the apostates ad the heretics. The west and the Jewish crusaders are the countries and states that support Israel which is seen as major enemies of Islam (Weimann, 2014). The agent rulers are key leaders- president and rulers in the countries of the Muslim states. The jihad fights and attacks the Hindus because they believe they are the oppressors of the Muslims. However, these attacks are not very common, and they don’t occur frequently. The apostates on the other hands are the Muslim believers who fail to flow their ideologies. Most of the jihad groups are composed of the Sunni Muslims, and they are rivals with the Shia Muslims. The Shia is much larger in number and does not engage in terrorist acts unless it’s a counterproductive attack.

The military strategy is used in more randomly but rather in a prioritized manner. The attacks are well calculated, and they are not undertaken simultaneously. They use military precision to decide which area to attack and the objective of the attack. For instance, the mujahidin Shura council of Jerusalem and its environs was formed to fight is real and its friends. Most of the attack it does occur in Israel, Egypt, and Gaza. All the military strategies for the Jihad terrorist is based o n what the Islamist call the “Method of Mohamed” (Moniquet, 2013). The source of this ideology is the Quran, Hadith, and Sirah. The Sirah is less known to the global population, but Islam faithful have a chance to read them. They are the sacralized biographies of Mohamed’s life. They offer a chronological description of Mohamed life. The information they give is not available in the Holy Quran and the Hadith. Mohamed is portrayed in this narration and a perfect man who did miraculous deeds. He is believed to have been supported and helped by God through the course of establishing the Islam faith.

With the ‘Mohamed method,' the groups start as small groups meeting in secret places because of fear of persecution (Bongers, 2014). He groups have their leader who is referred as an Amir. The jihad groups start as small vanguard and have the mission of leading t world into approving the light of Islam; mostly violence is utilized in later stages to achieve this objective. At first, the vanguard does not utilize violence, but they stick to true Islam teaching. There is an Islam teaching that says that wherever there are three Muslims, there must be a leader. Therefore when the jihad group starts they have to appoint a leader or an Amir (Bongers, 2014).

The next stage of the jihad group is migrating to places they can get support. Ideally, the groups don’t operate in the places they were formed because they fear persecution. They base this from Mohamed’s life that started Islam in Mecca, and his teachings were not accepted there. Subsequently, he was forced to migrate to medina where people readily accepted the Islam teaching. Because the Jihad groups have a negative motive, they are forced to move and establish their own society and territories. For instance, the Al-Qaida was first formed in Saudi Arabia by Osama bin laden. Then he moved to Sudan and later to Afghanistan (Weimann, 2014). Lastly, the groups try to establish an Islamic state through violence. When Mohamed reached Medina, He established an Islamic state. Jihad is, therefore, engaging in violence for the sake of establishing an Islamic state.

Attacks by Mujahidin Council in The Environs Of Jerusalem 

In June 2012 the MSC terrorist group carried out their first attack. In this attack, three men sneaked into Israeli territory near the Egyptian border. The three-man squad was armed with riffle sand RPGs which they used to attack two vehicles belonging to a construction company (Bongers, 2014). The result of this attack was the death of an Israeli civilian. However, the Israeli officers managed to kill two of the terrorists. The attack was used to declare the founding of the group and mark the start of their terrorist operations in Israel. After the attack soldiers discovered that the terrorists had detonated a massive IED which they had carried for the attack. Assault rifles were revealed at the site of the attack.

In April 2013 the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem announced that they were responsible for two Grad rocket attacks on Eilat- a city in the south of Israel (Bongers, 2014). The group also claimed responsibility for several rockets and mortar attacks targeting Israel and the Gaza strip. They launched the attacks to send a message to Israel they were not obliged to adhere to the agreement that was arrived at after the operation Pillar of defense. The rockets targeting Eilat have fired form Sinai Peninsula and were done with help and support from other jihadist networks (Bongers, 2014). The Sinai Peninsula has been a hotspot of terrorism activities for many decades. The attacks originating in this region has been targeted by Egyptian police, military, and Christians. It is a venue that rocket attack has been conducted from.

Other affiliate groups operating in this region include the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis which is has pledged allegiance to Islamic State terrorist groups. The Egyptian government has tried tough operations in the area to curb the insurgence, but less it has yielded minimal results. the reason behind it is because all the operations did here use military tactics which face counter attacks. This creates a chain and cycle of military activities in the area. Consequently, hundreds of officers have been killed in the conflict. Hundreds of housed have been razed, and thousands of people have been displaced (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016)

They have also launched attacks on Hamas which had termed MSC as a rogue network. They condemned the group for being affiliated to global jihad. This made the MSC to give a defiant public statement, resent security and ideological threats in a bid to challenge Hamas (Bongers, 2014). The MSC alto attacked Hamas because they claim Hamas is undermining Egypt and its security.

The mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem has been responsible for most of the rocket and mortar attack in the Gaza strip ever since November 2012- when operation Pillar defense came to an end.

In April 2013, the group fired mortar shells targeting the Western Negev. The group announced that it had instituted the attack to avenge the death of Maysara Abu Hamdia- a Palestinian prisoner (Bongers, 2014). Hamdia was a terrorist operative in the area, and he was to have planned a suicide attack targeting a coffee house in Jerusalem. He was convicted of attempted murder and was charged with life imprisonment. He died while serving a prison term. His death incited a series of demonstration in Judea and Samaria. The attack was also reported to warn Hamas of interfering with their group’s operations in the area.

In March 2013, during president Obamas visit to Israel, the mujahidin council fired five rockets to into Israeli territory (Bongers, 2014). Some of the rockets fell in a kindergarten school, but no one was hurt because the school was on vacation. It is assumed that the attack was meant to challenge Obama's authority and send an indication that he was not welcome in the region. Most of the jihad terrorists view America its leaders and senior officials as their enemies because they don’t support their ideology.

The other famous attack that the mujahidin Shura council undertook was the control and attack of an Egyptian post in Rafah. During the attack, a group of over 35 terrorist operatives took control of two APCs. The APC was driven to Kerem Shalom area of the Israeli-Gaza border with the intention of killing Israeli civilians or security force personnel (Bongers, 2014). The Israeli defense forces managed to shoot down the vehicles and killed the operatives who tried to escape. In the attack, a total of 16 soldiers were killed and a handful of the Jihad operatives. It was one of the worst attacks undertaken by the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem (Basarabă, & Nistor, 2016).

Existence of the MSC Terrorist Groups 

Ever since it was founded in 2012, the mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem has been in continuous operations into the area. The operations involve of IED, RPGs, rockets, and mortar to launch attacks on the Gaza strip, the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt and Israeli territory (Bongers, 2014). They are driven mostly by their hatred fir the Jews and Christian in the regions. Despite their localized operations the group is feared to be providing other major terrorist groups with access in the region. For instance, the insurgence at the Sinai Peninsula is reported to allow the smaller groups to provide haven to the operatives belonging to ISIS and Al-Qaida (Bongers, 2014). The MSC jihad group has also reported that they are fighting and will continue to fight against any liberal or secular democratic right sad values. They claim that at no point they will ever allow for such values. The MSC also claim they are committed to a struggle against Zionism. Some of their signature tactics are the use of rockets and mortar in their attacks.

America has been one big challenge for most of the jihad groups from around the world. For instance, after designating the MSC group as a foreign terrorist group in 2014, people were prohibited from knowingly providing or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support to resources or engaging in transactions with the organization. The US government has also threatened the existence of this group by freezing all property and interest in properties to possession and control of the groups in the United States. The US is simply trying to starve the group out of resources. This would mean it is disrupting the group’s ability to execute its deadly agendas. Lack of resources and capital would mean that the operative cannot carry out their acts of violence (Weimann, 2014).

More activities 

Rather than violence, the mujahidin Shura council engages in promoting Islam. They also work to curb secular cultures and values from penetrating the region. Around the Arab countries Shura means consultative, and therefore Mujahidin serves as a council in the society. The advisory councils in this region are often referred to as the Shura Council (Bongers, 2014).

One of their major goals is to bring down the Israeli influence in the region and stop it from gaining access in the Gaza area. The groups have been fighting Israel because it claims it has been in the frontline of fighting Sunni Muslims. But the major motivation behind this is totally religious enemity. They seem to resent the Jews and anything about them (Bongers, 2014).

In conclusion, the Mujahidin Shura council in the environs of Jerusalem is rising to become a well-organized terrorist group. It is a consolidation of many Salafi jihad groups in Egypt, Israel, and Gaza region. It is supported by local communities and states like Saudi and Qatar. it serves to improve access for larger territories group in the region. It is promoting the restoration of Islam to be a great religion. Mostly the group ash utilized mainstream media and social media like YouTube to pass threat and update on the activities they undertake

References 

Basarabă, A. C., & Nistor, M. M. (2016, June). The North African “Extremistan” of the Islamic State Caliphate. In  International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION  (Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 10-13).

Bongers, R. (2014). GLOBAL JIHAD IN SINAI: AN EXTENSION OF THE GAZA STRIP?

Moniquet, C. (2013). The involvement of Salafism-Wahhabism in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world.  European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs .

Wejkszner, a. (2015). The Influence Of Asymmetric Threats On Regional And Local Security. The Case Of Egypt And The European Union.  Relations between the European Union and Egypt after 2011: Determinants, Areas of Co-operation and Prospects , 109.

Weimann, G. (2014).  New terrorism and new media . Washington, DC: Commons Lab of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.