Sheikh Raed Salah Jailed for Spitting at Israeli Occupation Policeman

25/07/2010 Three and a half years after he spat in the face of an Israeli occupation police officer, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah reported on Sunday to Ayalon Prison, where he will serve a five-month sentence.

Sheikh Salah was escorted to the prison by about 200 supporters, including Arab Knesset members and Tali Fahima, who wore a kaffiyah (Arab square cotton headkerchief) and carried a Palestinian flag.

Salah was scheduled to show up in court at 10 am and indeed showed up at the prison gate at 9:55 am.

Israel Prison Services (IPS) has not been put on special alert for Salah's arrival. However, it was decided that he will be jailed alone in a cell in the prison's separation wing, typically used for dangerous criminals such as the heads of crime families.

The IPS said that should Salah "not make problems" during his prison term, he will receive benefits granted to detainees.

Two weeks ago, Jerusalem District Court shortened the original sentence handed down to Sheikh Salah from nine months to five months.

In the explanation of the sentence, the justices wrote, "The spitting did not only offend the policeman personally, but it was an affront to the authority of policemen in general. There is no connection between his actions and the exercise of freedom of expression and freedom to protest."

The justices added that Salah did not express regret over his actions and did not apologize to the assaulted policeman. They also noted that since he has additional security offenses against him since 2005, the overall picture necessitates a prison sentence.

However, they ruled, "It seems as though the nine-month ruling is more stringent than necessary." Salah's legal representatives asked that the sentence be postponed until after the month of Ramadan, but their request was rejected.

The said incident, which Shiekh Salah has always denied, took place in February 2007 in occupied Jerusalem. Salah, together with four other Arab Israelis, was indicted for rioting during a protest against digs being carried out near the Noble Sanctuary.

He spat in the face of an occupation officer on the site while shouting at him, "You are racist murderers. You have no dignity." An indictment was filed against him in the same month as the incident.

Sheikh Salah has been detained on a number of occasions, most recently after taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla stormed on May 31 by Israeli naval commandos in an operation which left nine Turkish activists dead.

Sheikh Salah starts serving five-month term

[ 25/07/2010 - 09:59 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, started on Sunday serving the five-month imprisonment sentence passed against him by an Israeli court that claimed he insulted an Israeli policeman.

The Israeli prosecution claimed that Salah insulted an Israeli policemen during confrontation in occupied Jerusalem when he was leading protests against the Israeli construction of a bridge at Maghareba gate in occupied Jerusalem in 2007.

The Israeli central court in Jerusalem had turned down an appeal by Salah's lawyer to freeze the sentence but agreed to lower it from nine to five months in jail. The court gave him the choice to serve the sentence in jail or in social community service but he chose to be incarcerated.

Sheikh Salah was seen off at Um Al-Faham city in northern occupied Palestine 1948 by a large number of people and Arab figures who accompanied him to Ramle prison where he is to spend his jail term.

Israeli police cars and helicopters accompanied the convoy.

Sheikh Salah is standing trial in three other cases for involvement in anti occupation activity.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian