Should sheikh be arrested?
Sheikh Salah’s arrest may be counterproductive, boost his status
The masses did not pour into Sheikh Raed Salah’s improvised tent, which was established on the roof of a residential duplex in the Wadi Joz neighborhood Tuesday. The man who only last week managed to excite tens of thousands of people on his home court in Umm al-Fahm, saw a rather thin inflow of interested parties throughout the day.
The bunch of sycophants who surrounded the Sheikh saved the day, and of course a reinforced presence of the sector that interests Salah more than any other: The media.
Two visits interfered with the routine. The first one featured several clowns from the Neturei Karta sect. They carried small anti-Zionist signs and wooed Salah with messages against the occupation. The youngest visitor in the group decided to speak up, presented himself as Ashraf Abu-Something, and broke into an endless anti-Zionist speech in fluent Arabic. When he finally finished he wiped off his glasses and asked to repeat the speech in English. Even the sheikh appeared horrified for a moment.
The second visit, by evening time, found the sheikh calm and relaxed. The visitors this time were wearing the blue uniforms of the Israeli Police. I’m not sure they were viewed as unwelcome guests. The sheikh and his people waited for them, almost with longing. There was no resistance.
Perpetual dilemma
For the establishment, this is a perpetual dilemma. At night, when the judge released Salah and banned him from entering Jerusalem for a month, the question mark over the benefit inherent in such moves only grew.
Just like any dissident who respects himself, Salah knows well that detainment by security forces serves to build his power. The previous period he spent in an Israeli jail upgraded him to the status of martyr. It most certainly did not teach him a lesson; his statements grew repeatedly radical since then.
The street below the tent appeared indifferent to developments. Relative quiet was maintained in other parts of east Jerusalem, with the exception of a few stone-throwing incidents. The many police officers and Border Guard troops had nothing to do and mostly dealt with directing the traffic and blocking the entrances to Temple Mount.
The real test will come during the upcoming Friday prayers. If it continues like this, the Prosecutor’s Office may find it difficult to prove Salah’s guilt on charges of incitement and sedition. Until Tuesday at least, no intifada broke out in Jerusalem.
