The official radio station of the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Al-Quds network, has been broadcasting special nightly Ramadan prayers from the Al Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount since last week. The station is also broadcasting the Tarawih prayers, special Sunni Muslim prayers recited at night during Ramadan. It regularly features Iranian and anti-Semitic propaganda and death threats against Jews. According to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip, the nightly prayer broadcast on Islamic Jihad’s station is currently the most popular radio program in the Palestinian territories. Broadcasts this week, sampled by WorldNetDaily, have been preceded and followed by Islamic Jihad speeches calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and advocating Palestinian solidarity with Iran. It was unclear whether Islamic Jihad had official permission from Israel or from the Wakf Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount to broadcast from the holy site, located in Jerusalem and jointly administered by the Wakf and Israeli police. A spokesman for Israel’s Police Authority said the police were not aware of the broadcast and that it was a matter for the Israeli Government Press Office to deal with. The Government Press Office stated it does not have jurisdiction in the issue and that it was a matter for the Israeli military authorities. A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said it was a matter for the police. Capture and Release The Israel Defense Forces thwarted a suicide attack Thursday reportedly meant for the center of Israel, capturing and arresting a would-be bomber and two of his accomplices – Jamal and Ibrahim Ismail, who are brothers and senior leaders of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group. The two were afterwards released on orders from the prime minister’s office. According to security sources, the release was ordered after complaints from Abbas officials. The Ismail brothers were among those granted amnesty by Olmert in July as a gesture to Mahmoud Abbas. The amnesty agreement required that the terrorists disarm, refrain from terror activities and restrict their movements for three months to the area in which they reside. The arrest infuriated Al Aksa Brigades leaders. Ala Senakreh, the chief of the Brigades in the West Bank, told this column that if the Ismail brothers were not immediately released, his group would break the amnesty agreement and attack Israel. A spokeswoman for the IDF confirmed the release but said the matter should be raised with Olmert’s office. David Baker, Olmert’s spokesman, could not immediately provide a statement on the issue. Ongoing Attacks The incident described above is at least the third time in recent weeks Brigades members who are on Olmert’s amnesty list were caught violating the amnesty agreement but released after Palestinian officials complained. Three weeks ago, a pardoned Brigades leader was caught smuggling weapons at Nablus’s Harawa checkpoint. According to security sources, he was released on the spot after the chief of Palestinian intelligence called the Shin Bet Security Services to complain. Last month, this column broke the story that Israel captured an armed Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades member who was smuggling bullets from Jenin to Nablus but let him go after it was determined he was one of the gunmen granted amnesty. Recent attacks by Brigades members, including those on the amnesty list, have included shooting at and lobbing grenades at IDF patrols. The IDF has arrested a number of the pardoned Al Aksa Brigades members carrying arms and planning terror attacks. In one instance this week, Brigades member Fadi Al-Kene was nabbed as he was attempting to smuggle explosives into the West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem. Al-Kene was carrying a small pistol at the time of his arrest. Social Services for Terrorists Meanwhile, as the Brigades continue their attacks against Israel, the United Nations Development Program is stepping in with plans to provide job training and assistance to the Palestinian gunmen and their families. The program states that its aim is to “reintegrate” the pardoned Al-Aksa Brigades gunmen into civil society. The initial funding is reportedly coming from the European Union.
Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.com. He appears throughout the week on leading U.S. radio programs.