Raed Salah

Raed Salah Abu Shakra (Arabic: رائد صلاح‎‎, Hebrew: ראאד סלאח‎‎; born 1958) is the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. He was born in Umm al-Fahm, Israel, 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.

He was convicted in Israel of funding Hamas, and of having contact with an Iranian intelligence agent; he served a two-year sentence from 2003 to 2005. In 2010, he served a five-month sentence after being convicted of assaulting a police officer and leading a violent demonstration.

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.

On May 24, 2011, Salah addressed an audience of Arab-Israeli 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."

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 Israeli excavation work being carried out near the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, the Temple Mount and known to in Arabic (and in Islam) as the Haram al-Sharif. Police claimed that the organization behind the event, the al-Aqsa Foundation, was affiliated with Hamas. When the event was moved to another hotel after receiving a cancellation order, Israeli police moved in and broke up the meeting. Salah told The Guardian newspaper that this "childish behavior" on the part of Israeli security forces "...does not protect security. It actually makes the security situation explosive."

In 2010, Salah was arrested for allegedly attacking a policeman 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 defence".

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Wikipedia