Israeli media is reporting that Israeli Muslim Brotherhood leader Raed Salah has been convicted by an Israeli court of incitement to violence. According to a Ynet News report, Mr. Salah was acquitted of incitment to racism:
Raed Salah
November 7, 2013 The Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court on Thursday convicted Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, of incitement to violence. He was acquitted of incitement to racism.
The case against Salah was based on a speech he made at the Mughrabi Gate near the Temple Mount in February 2007. ‘Our best moments will be when we meet God as martyrs in the al-Aqsa Mosque,’ he said in the speech.
The indictment said that the speech constituted a call for and encouragement of violence. According to the indictment, Salah also stated, ‘The Israeli occupation will be removed, God willing, as others like it were removed in the past.’
‘You who incite against us, do not be lured by the ranks on your shoulders…those of you who kill more of us get promoted…the streets of holy Jerusalem will one day be purged of the blood of innocents who took the souls of the Israeli occupation soldiers who are occupying the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque.’ The speech led to riots and the ensuing clashes saw three Border Guard soldiers injured.
The State Prosecutor’s Office also charged Salah of incitement to racism based on other comments in the speech. ‘We have never allowed ourselves to knead the bread of the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast with the blood of children. And those of you who want a more detailed explanation, ask what would have happened to some of Europe’s children whose blood would have been mixed in the holy bread’s dough.’
Raed Salah is the leader of the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement, essentially comprising the Israeli Muslim Brotherhood. He is noted for often alleging that Israel is conspiring to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. (The Al-Aqsa Mosque is often the subject of various Global Muslim Brotherhood conspiracies theories involving alleged Israeli plots and plans to destroy the mosque.)
In May 2003, Salah was arrested along with other Northern Islamic Movement officials on suspicion of transferring funds to Hamas under the pretense of humanitarian aid. He was released after two years under the terms of a plea bargain. In August 2007, Salah was indicted for “inciting racism and violence” for calling for a “third Intifada,” or uprising, to defend the Al-Aqsa mosque and in 2008 Israeli security forces raided the offices of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel accusing it of aiding Hamas. In 2009, Salah said that Israel had a ‘diabolical plan” to cause the Al–Aqsa Mosque to collapse “in a way that would appear as is happening as a result of natural causes, such an earthquake.” In January 2010, Salah was convicted of assaulting an Israeli policeman and participating in a violent demonstration.
In April 2012, Mr Salah won an appeal against a deportation order issued by the UK where he had been residing on the basis that his presence “would not be conducive to the public good”. Mr.Salah had been arrested in 2011 after he was allowed to enter the country despite being banned on the basis of “virulent anti-Semitism”. In September of 2012, Mr. Salah predicted that Israel actions toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque will “speed up the demise of the Zionist entity” and deliver the West from “Global Zionism.” In March 2013, Mr Salah warned U.S. President Obama not to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque during his upcoming visit to Israel.
In June 2011, a BBC producer described the anti-Semitic and extremist views of Mr. Salah:
Supporters of the sheikh insist he is opposed to all forms of racism. Sheikh Salah’s Islamic Movement is reported to have mourned the death of Osama Bin Laden, calling him a “martyr” and his killers “Satanic”. While British law entitles such a view to be expressed, it could weigh as a factor in denying entry to a non-British citizen. Conspiracy theory Another consideration may have been an article that Sheikh Salah wrote three weeks after the 9/11 attacks, in which he said that unlike Muslim workers in the World Trade Center, Jewish workers had been absent on 9/11. ”Were 4,000 Jewish clerks absent by chance, or was there another reason?” he asked, alluding to a conspiracy theory that is still advanced by some extreme groups that the Israeli secret service Mossad – not al-Qaeda – was behind the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people. Although similar 9/11 conspiracy theories have been found to be not uncommon within some Islamist groups in Britain, this could also have counted against Sheikh Salah. He is also reported to have made a speech in February 2007 during a protest in East Jerusalem in which he accused Jews of using children’s blood to bake bread.
A MEMRI report also describes Mr. Salah’s history of extremist views.
Knowledgable sources report that Salah is currently residing in Israel.
