OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The hardline leader of the radical wing of the Israeli Arab Islamic movement was convicted of assaulting a police officer by an Israeli court on Thursday, his deputy said. “The Israeli court convicted Sheikh Raed Salah, accusing him of striking a police officer because of the digging under the Dung Gate in February 2007,” Kamal Khatib, the deputy head of the movement, told AFP.
Khatib denied the charges and said Salah would appeal the decision.
The incident took place during demonstrations that erupted in and around occupied Jerusalem’s Old City in February of 2007 when Israel embarked on a construction project near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Muslim protesters said the repair work near the Dung Gate threatened the foundations of the nearby compound, which is the third holiest site for Muslims, who refer to it as Al-Haram al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary).
The compound is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, and has been the scene of several outbreaks of violence over the course of the decades-old Israeli-Arab conflict.
In August 2007 Salah was indicted for “inciting racism and violence” for calling for a “third Intifada,” or uprising, to defend the mosque.
Salah was detained last month during similar clashes at Al-Aqsa sparked by rumors that Jewish extremists were attempting to pray inside the compound, which is closed to non-Muslim worshippers.
Clashes have broken out several times in recent weeks, with Salah and his movement calling on all Muslims to “defend” the mosque from Israel.
The Israeli Arab community numbers 1.2 million and accounts for 20 percent of the population. It includes the descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who remained following the 1948 war. – AFP
Listen to the Article 
Printable Version 
Send to a friend 