Israeli Muslim Brotherhood Leader Released After Arrest For Incitement

Palestinian media is reporting that Israeli police have released Israeli Muslim Brotherhood leader Raed Salah from jail following his recent arrest for incitement. According to a Maan News Agency report:

 05/09/2013 16:27 JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police released Raed Salah on Wednesday, his lawyer said.

Khalid Zabarqa, a lawyer who runs al-Aqsa Foundation for Development, told Ma’an that an Israeli court released the Islamic Movement leader on condition that he stay at least 30 km from Jerusalem for six months.

The bail for his release was set at 50,000 shekels ($13,761).

Salah told the court he would not adhere to the ban order and refused to sign it.

Salah was arrested for incitement against the state of Israel in a sermon in Kafr Qarie village last week when he blamed Israel for a burning the al-Aqsa mosque, an Israeli police official said.

For an Israeli media report on Mr. Salah’s arrest, go here.

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.

A MEMRI report also describes Mr. Salah’s history of extremist views.

Knowledgable sources report that Salah is currently residing in Israel.