Salah. The victim?
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Sheikh Salah says Israeli media inciting against him
In interview to Arab newspaper, leader of Islamic Movement's northern faction accuses Israeli press of calling for his murder. 'There are many Jewish murderers walking around, who can do this at any moment,' he says
Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement's northern faction who was arrested
and removed from Jerusalem
this week on suspicion of incitement, refuses to be interviewed by Israeli media outlets but has a lot to say about the Israeli press in interviews with representatives of the Arab media.
The remarks were made as the Jerusalem Police boosted its forces in the capital
in an attempt to prevent violent clashes during the Friday prayer on the Temple Mount.
"What the Israeli media has done in the past week was an incitement to murder," Salah said in an interview to the Arab sector's Arab al-Dahal newspaper, published Friday. According to the sheikh, Israeli political journalists are taking part in the campaign against him.
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The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled that the Muslim cleric's presence in Jerusalem was dangerous and could ignite violence, but Salah continues to freely preach his doctrine to his supporters.
According to Salah, the incitement against him is a concrete danger. "There are many Jewish murderers walking around, who can commit this murder at any moment," he said.
He added that after his arrest, a Shin Bet investigator had told him that he would like to see him dead. "He said, 'If it were in my hands, you know I would terminate your life.'"
The sheikh, an umm al-Fahm resident, claimed that his city's residents told him that they had encountered the hostile attitude towards among the security forces at roadblocks. He added that Arab bus drivers were recently threatened by policemen that their licenses would be revoked if they tried to drive Arabs to the al-Aqsa Mosque.
"We, on our part, took a critical move when we called to stay inside the al-Aqsa Mosque. There is no way we will allow any Jewish group to enter the site," he concluded.
