Police break-up Islamic Movement conference, make arrests


January 15, 2016
Sarah Benton


Supporters of the Islamic movement, northern branch, march in Umm al-Fahm to protest at the ban, November 28 2015. Photo by Hassan Shaalan.

Israeli forces suppress Islamic Movement meeting in Jerusalem

Ma’an news
January 14, 2016

JERUSALEM — Israeli police suppressed a meeting of the Islamic Movement in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, using tear-gas and stun grenades, witnesses said.

Witnesses told Ma’an that the meeting suppressed by forces was a conference organized by a campaign opposing a ban placed on the Islamic Movement. The meeting reportedly discussed the issue of public institutions currently banned by the Israeli government.

Israeli forces fired stun grenades at the crowd in attendance and detained at least one person, identified by witnesses as Hajj Abu Bakr al-Sheimi.
An Israeli police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Israel’s security cabinet outlawed the Islamic Movement’s northern branch in Israel in November, giving Israeli security forces the green light to imprison anyone acting on the movement’s behalf, as well as to seize property belonging to the organization.

The Islamic Movement’s northern branch, led by Sheikh Raed Salah, has been a vocal critic of Israeli activity at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem — the third holiest site in Islam and historical flashpoint site.

Following November’s announcement to ban the movement, a Palestinian member of Israel’s Knesset, Talab Abu Arar, said that Israel had “declared war on the Arab community in Israel, and Israel had to bear the consequences.”

He said that Netanyahu’s decision to ban the northern branch — which he said operates in accordance with law — was a bid to distract from “his failure in all fields.”

Abu Arar said that the “third intifada” had stemmed from Netanyahu’s policy toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and his government’s lack of transparency.

“The Islamic Movement will not stop defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque and won’t remain silent towards what is going on there,” he said at the time.


 


One of the people arrested at the E. Jerusalem hotel for attending an Islamic movement, northern branch, press conference. Photo by ActiveStills.

Jerusalem cops break up Islamic Movement meeting

Police use stun grenades to disperse a press conference by banned group in East Jerusalem hotel; top official arrested. The meeting, ‘Our humanity is stronger than their ban’ was convoked by Muhammed Barakeh, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel

By Lee Gancman, Times of Israel
January 14, 2016

Police broke up a meeting being held by the banned Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement Thursday morning in an East Jerusalem hotel.

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that during the raid, police threw stun grenades and arrested Abu Bakr Al-Shimi, a well-known figure in the organization.

The gathering, being held in East Jerusalem’s Commodore Hotel, was billed as a press conference under the name of “Our humanity is stronger than their ban.”

The chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel, Muhammed Barakeh, who organized the meeting, told Israeli media that the press conference meant to discuss Arab organizations that were outlawed due to Israeli claims of Islamic Movement movement connections.


Footage [very shaky] of the police raid posted on YouTube.

The Israeli cabinet in November charged the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement with having links to terrorist groups and inciting the recent wave of deadly violence.

It said in a statement that membership or activity within the framework of the group would constitute a “criminal offense punishable by a prison sentence.”

The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement is headed by firebrand cleric Raed Salah. The organization rejects the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and boycotts national elections on the grounds that they legitimize the Jewish state. Salah was sentenced late last year to 11 months in prison for incitement to violence and racism over an inflammatory sermon he delivered in 2007 in Jerusalem. He has previously served terms for similar offenses.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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