[An Nahar] A young Arab Israeli who joined rebel forces in Syria and underwent military training with jihadist fighters law went on trial Wednesday charged with violating Israeli law, legal and security officials said.Ahmad Shurbaji, 23, from Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, along with three other Arab Israelis on January 16 left for Turkey, from where they crossed into Syria, the prosecution said.
According to the Shin Bet domestic security agency, Shurbaji was enjugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
upon his return to Israel on April 20.
"In his investigation, Shurbaji admitted he went to Syria to join the struggle against the Syrian army," the Shin Bet statement read.
It said he joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
, "one of the most extreme global jihadist groups currently active in Syria".
He underwent military training with ISIL and "participated in at least two battles" against government forces as well as other actions, including on the Iraqi border, it said.
Shurbaji was charged on Wednesday at Haifa magistrate court in northern Israel with unlawfully leaving Israel and undergoing prohibited military training, the charge sheet read.
Israel is technically at war with Syria and it is illegal for its citizens to travel there.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
three men, including Ayad Abu-Sara, an East Jerusalem resident who was allegedly set to leave for Syria -- part of a plan that was to culminate in suicide kabooms against the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem's International Convention Center.
There are currently, according to a study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terror Information Center, over 5,000 foreign Arab fighters in Syria, constituting "the spine" of the fighting ranks of the jihadist groups Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
The study, released this week, pointed at Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya as contributing the bulk of the warriors, with only 30 from Gazoo and "several individuals" from the Paleostinian Authority and Israel.