"The hardliner heads the radical wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel and is no stranger to run-ins with the authorities. In 2011, he was arrested at Allenby border crossing between Israel and Jordan after allegedly striking an interrogator who wanted to question his wife. The previous year, he spent five months behind bars for spitting at an Israeli policeman. He was also held after taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that Israeli naval commandos stormed on May 31, 2010 in an operation which left nine Turkish activists dead. A spokesman for the Islamist Movement described Tuesday’s arrest as a “failed move” by Israel to “keep away those who love the Al Aqsa mosque so the Jews can have it for themselves and build a temple”. The Islamic Movement is tolerated in Israel but is under constant surveillance because of its perceived links with the militant Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip, as well as with other Islamist groups worldwide."
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:05:13 +0000