MEMRI has reported that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has sent a letter of congratulation to Israel Muslim Brotherhood leader Raed Salah upon his release from prison. According to the MEMRI report:
Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Dr. Muhammad Badi’, who is known for his extremist tendencies, sent a letter of congratulations to Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamist movement in Israel, on the occasion of his release from prison. In the letter, Badi’ expressed his wishes that Salah would continue to act “to remove the occupation from Jerusalem.”
Source: Ikhwanonine.com, December 13, 2010
Sheikh Raed Salah, profiled in an article discussed in an earlier post, is the head of the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, considered to be the most extreme wing of the movement that essentially comprises the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel. 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 mosque and in 2008 Israeli security forces raided the offices of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel accusing it of aiding Hamas. In May 2009 Salah said that Israel has 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 was sentenced to nine months in prison yesterday for assaulting a policeman and taking part in a violent demonstration in February 2007 near the Temple Mount.
Mr. Salah was also one of the prominent participants in the recent Gaza flotilla. Salah was also one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders aboard the recent Gaza Flotilla which attempt to run the Israeli blockade.