Sheikh Salah turns artist?

The leader of the Islamic Movement's Northern Branch, Sheikh Raed Salah who was recently released from a London prison, has managed to call attention not only to his criminal behavior but to an unexposed artistic side.

His deputy, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, told Ynet on Sunday that "Salah has been drawing for years."

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"In pictures he drew during his time in London, he most likely wanted to convey a message to the Israeli government on oppression and the harsh blockade on Gaza," added Khatib.

One of Salah's drawings

Salah was released from a British jail last Monday after being detained for three weeks on suspicion he tried to enter the country despite being banned.

Salah arrived in London last month and nearly succeeded in speaking before the British parliament despite a ban imposed by Home Secretary Theresa May.

It was decided that Salah would be deported from the country immediately, after police said they suspect he entered the country by altering a letter in his name.

Salah refused to leave and appealed the orders. "I entered Britain legally and I will leave it without being expelled," he said.

A sinking ship, according to Salah

A member of the Islamic Movement said that with his drawings Salah wished to emphasize that "despite his arrest and all of the measurements taken against him, the Islamic Movement will win. He wanted to convey a message about the social and political hardships of the Arab public, and that they are blocked within their lands and their freedom is limited."

Another member of the group added that Salah is interested in Arab world affairs. "He drew a dove tied with a chain behind a window while over doves fly in the sky above, and I think he meant to say that Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger but that the Arab world doesn't think of it as something of importance. The sinking ship indicates that someday the flotilla will reach the Gaza shores."

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