Jerusalem woman arrested on suspicion of Islamic Movement ties

A 64-year-old female resident of East Jerusalem was detained by police Wednesday for suspected ties to the newly outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement.

The woman, Zeinat Jilad, from the neighborhood of Isawiyah, is an activist in the all-female Murabitat group, known for opposing Jewish presence on the Temple Mount, by shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) at visitors, and sometimes resorting to physical assaults. The Prime Minister’s Office describes the group as a “salaried group of activists aimed at initiating provocations on the Temple Mount.”

Guidance and funding for the group is provided largely by the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement.

In early September, the Murabitat (plural of “murabit” — a defender of Islam) were banned from the mount during morning hours in which Jews visit, on orders of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. Since then, they have mostly waited outside the gates of the compound, confronting Jews upon their exit.

The woman’s arrest marks the first time that someone has been detained for being affiliated with the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement since it was banned in November.

After an initial questioning by the police’s Lahav 443 financial crimes unit, Jilad was scheduled to be brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Knesset Member Osama Sa’adi, of the Joint (Arab) List, commented on the arrest, saying, “If being a murabit and being present at the holy Al-Aqsa mosque in order to defend it is illegal, then we are all criminals. Every Palestinian is a murabit from birth and it is their duty to defend their holy places.”

And MK Hanin Zoabi, also of the Joint (Arab) List, issued a statement saying that Jilad’s arrest was “another brick in the totalitarian wall masquerading as a democracy.”

She went on: “This ‘democratic state\’ which alone thinks and believes it is democratic, continues to persecute worshipers and old women. This represents a regime where no one is secure and freedom of expression and freedom of legitimate political activity is reserved for Jews only.”

Since the outbreak of terrorism and violence in the beginning of October, Israel has placed Islamist groups under heavy scrutiny, accusing them of “incitement.”

Headed by firebrand cleric Raed Salah, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement has rejected the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and boycotts national elections on the grounds that they legitimize the Jewish state. Salah was sentenced earlier this year to 11 months in prison for incitement to violence and racism over an inflammatory sermon he delivered in 2007 in Jerusalem. He has previously served terms for similar offenses.

A document released by the Prime Minister’s Office in November explaining the reasoning behind the ban, called the organization “a sister-movement of the terrorist organization Hamas” and accused the movements of maintaining close, clandestine ties.

Zeinat Jilad is the mother of Wasim Jilad, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence in Israel for his role in a failed suicide bombing in 2004. Wasim Jilad was a member of Hamas and as a holder of an Israeli ID card helped a suicide bomber from Hebron enter Israel. They intended to carry out the bombing at the Caffit restaurant in the German Colony area of Jerusalem, but the bomber hesitated and was killed by IDF forces.