Bill: Declare Salah's movement illegal
By Amnon Meranda, ynetnews, February 20, 2007
Likud MK demands that Islamic Movement's northern branch be outlawed. 'If we don't remove Salah from our midst and condemn him, we will be building an Israeli Nasrallah with our bare hands,' MK Yisrael Katz says.
A new bill submitted Tuesday by Knesset Member Yisrael Katz (Likud) called to declare the Islamic Movement's northern faction an "illegal corporation" and to prohibit its members from running in local and national elections and raising funds.
MK Katz explained that the bill was formed following the recent remarks made by the branch's leader as part of his campaign against the excavation works taking place at the Mugrabi Gate near the Temple Mount.
"The movement is characterized by incitement and an anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish line," Katz said.
Salah was ordered by an Israeli court to stay away from Jerusalem's Old City in a bid to calm things down around the Mugrabi Gate area. However, the sheikh continued to orchestrate the protest against the excavation works and did not stop blasting Israel harshly.
He slammed the government's policy in the Temple Mount and called on worshippers to continue their protest, charging that "the Temple Mount works may cause the mosques on the mount to collapse."
'Salah's actions more severe than Kahane's'
"We are talking about a radical movement with a racist and anti-Semitic leader who has been inciting hatred against the Jewish people in the State of Israel for years," Katz said.
"This bill is urgent in light of Sheikh Salah's behavior. Just like Nasrallah became a hero after the Lebanon war, Salah became a hero in the eyes of Islamic extremists after his recent remarks," he added.
Katz also said that Rabbi Meir Kahane's party was outlawed in the past, "But Salah's actions are much more severe. If we do not remove Salah from our midst and condemn him, we will be building an Israeli Nasrallah with our bare hands."
Sheikh Raed Salah and several of his people were arrested about four years ago. According to the defense establishment, they were involved in money laundering in the service of Hamas.
A plea bargain was eventually signed, and the movement members were convicted of contacting a foreign agent and of general charges such as money laundering. They served a reduced prison term and were later released.
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