Israel to keep Palestinian icon in solitary confinement

By Anees Barghouti

JERUSALEM

An Israeli court on Tuesday ruled to keep Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, in solitary confinement for another three months.

According to Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, head of the Freedom Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel (established by Arab parties and public figures in Israel), an Israeli court in Beersheba ruled to keep Salah in solitary confinement until he finishes serving out a nine-month jail term.

Al-Khatib told Anadolu Agency that the court had based its decision on "secret information" presented by Israeli prosecutors.

"It [the court] claims Sheikh Raed poses a danger to the security of the Israeli state," he said.

On Friday, Salah -- an icon of Palestinian resistance against Israel’s decades-long occupation -- ended a five-day hunger strike to protest his ongoing detention.

Salah began serving out a nine-month jail sentence in May for alleged "incitement". Since then, the Israeli authorities have kept him in solitary confinement.

Born in 1958 in the city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, Salah studied Islamic Law at the University of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Between 1987 and 2001, he served as mayor of Umm al-Fahm for three consecutive terms.

In 1996, Salah was elected as leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The movement is known for staging daily demonstrations at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- to protest violations against the mosque by the Israeli authorities.

In November of last year, Israel’s security cabinet outlawed the movement, accusing it of engaging in "incitement" and "propaganda".