Zionist gangs give the prison sentence to Sheikh Raed Salah

During the hearing, which was held this morning, the Sheikh’s supporters, including leaders and politicians in addition to Palestinian Knesset members, were prevented from entering the court.

He was accused of "inciting terrorism" and "supporting the Islamic movement" inside the occupied land.

The court decided to prison Salah for 28 months; 11 months of them were already served.

Raed Salah Abu Shakra

Raed Salah Abu Shakra is the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Occupied Palestine. He was born in Umm al-Fahm, and was elected as the mayor of that city three times: in 1989, 1993, and 1997. He has eight children, and is a former poet.

In 2003, he was arrested in Zionist gangs on the pretext of funding Hamas, and of having contact with an Iranian intelligence agent; he was released in 2005 in a deal, which banned him from leaving Israel. In 2010, he served a five-month sentence after being convicted of assaulting a Zionist police.

In 2011, Salah entered the United Kingdom, but it was then found that he had been banned a few hours previously. He was arrested, but his ban was overturned by an immigration court.

Activism against Israeli policy

On May 24, 2011, Salah addressed an audience of students from Tel Aviv University, where he reiterated his anti-occupation position stating: "We must keep fighting until we remove the Israeli occupation and free the holy Jerusalem."

Activism in Jerusalem

On February 28, 2007, Israeli police prevented Christian and Muslim leaders from holding a meeting and press conference organized by Salah in Jerusalem to put forward their opposition to Zionist gangs' Israeli excavation work being carried out near the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, known to in Arabic (and in Islam) as the Haram al-Sharif.

In 2010, Salah was arrested for allegedly attacking a zionist police officer in the Old City of Jerusalem during the 2007 protests. He was convicted and served a five-month prison sentence. When he was released, he said: "We continue our activities fearlessly until we fulfill our aspirations." Salah was acquitted by an Israeli court on charges of rioting and "involvement in an illegal gathering" in connection with the 2007 protest, a judge ruling that the charges, brought by police, were "inconsistent with witness testimony and video evidence produced by the defense".

On October 2, 2009, Salah gave a speech, which was branded "incitement" by police. Arab riots over the Temple Mount were taking place in Jerusalem and surrounding villages, and police claimed that he had incited rioters to violence. On October 6, 2009, Salah was arrested in Wadi al- Joz. Following a remand hearing before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Salah was released hours later, but was banned from entering Jerusalem for thirty days. Judge Shimon Feinberg argued that there was good reason to suspect Salah as a dangerous body, and that his presence in Jerusalem "could be inciting".

Involvement with 2010 Gaza flotilla

Salah participated in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid to the Gaza strip, with the aim of breaking Israel's blockade. Salah was on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the convoy. On 31 May 2010, Zionist occupation gangs intercepted the flotilla. Subsequently, the Zionist gangs killed nine activists and injured dozens. Zionist gangs claimed that Salah tried to provide cover for an activist who shot at naval commandos during the raid, but that the gunman had already been hit. He was removed from the ship, taken to Ashdod, and questioned.

Salah along with the head of the Islamic Movement's southern branch, Hamad Abu Daa'bas, was relocated to the Ela Prison in Beersheba to await a hearing before so-called the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court on their involvement with the flotilla. On June 6, Salah was released on NIS 150,000 bail, but placed under house arrest and temporarily barred from leaving Israel. Hours after he was released, Salah gave a speech in Umm al-Fahm, during which he claimed that zionism "which began in Turkey, would end in Turkey".

In April 2014, Salah was convicted of obstructing the police over obstructing a police search of his wife at a border crossing three years prior.

In August 2017, Salah was arrested and charged with incitement to 'terror' in relation to alleged incitement leading to and following the 2017 al-Aqsa shooting. Salah has said in response that he merely quoted the Qur'an and that he is on trial for promulgating Islam. Salah's lawyer said that quoting from the Quran should be protected by freedom of religion, and that it is a matter of interpretation whether such quotes are Islamic discourse or incitement. (ILKHA)