Israel outlaws northern branch of Islamic Movement

The northern branch of the Islamic Movement rejects the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and boycotts national elections on the grounds that they give legitimacy to the institutions of the Jewish state.

Following the decision, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed the relevant order.

The Israeli cabinet’s announcement would effectively allow Israel to imprison anyone who acts on the movement’s behalf and also to seize any property belonging to the organization.

“All these measures done by the Israeli establishment are oppressive and condemned”, Salah said, adding that he and two other party leaders were summoned for police questioning.

Israel says the wave of violence is the result of incitement from Palestinian leaders and has blamed the Islamic Movement for fanning the flames among the country’s Arabs.

“For years, the northern branch of the Islamic Movement has led a mendacious campaign of incitement under the heading “Al- Aqsa is in danger” that falsely accuses Israel of intending to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque and violate the status quo”, the government said in an emailed statement, referring to the Jerusalem shrine.

It claimed that the move “is not directed against the Arab and Muslim public in Israel, the great majority of which upholds the laws of the state and disavows incitement and terrorism”.

In October, Salah was sentenced to 11 months in jail on charges of inciting violence at the mosque compound in a 2007 speech. As Jewish Israelis enjoyed the holy site under heavy police protection, Israel enforced age restrictions on Muslims and clashed with those who had camped out in the mosque the night before to contest the Jewish tours.

Netanyahu contends that the Islamic Movement’s northern section, which unlike its southern branch refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy, has encouraged assaults on Israelis.

Early Tuesday, security forces raided offices of the movement and 17 associated organisations in Arab communities, police said, seizing cash, documents and computers.

The group’s leaders, known for their fiery rhetoric, have spearheaded accusations that Israel is plotting to take over a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that outlawing the northern branch of the Islamic Movement is an essential step in maintaining public security.

(JNS.org) The chairman of the Dutch Socialist Party, Jan Marijnissen, said he believes the perpetrators of the Paris terror attacks that killed 129 people were motivated in part by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, Amnesty global expressed concerns over the selective application of freedom of opinion and expression in Israel and slammed this Israeli step as a grave violation of the freedom of expression and association. The umbrella organization was holding an emergency meeting about the ban.

Struggling to deal with the violence and protests, Israeli stepped up security and implemented a harsh crackdown on Palestinians. The local news site Yaffa 48-an affiliate of the Islamic Movement-reported Israeli police arrested the group’s Director of External Relations Dr. Joseph Awawdeh from his home in the Galilee.

The Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration at decades of living under Israeli occupation.

He also allegedly said Muslims’ “finest moment” would be to become “martyrs” protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Speaking to Reuters, he played down the prospect of a backlash from Israeli Arabs, saying the government planned to increase investment in their communities and that some charities linked to the northern Islamic Movement might be spared closure.

A pair of stabbing and shooting attacks carried out by Palestinians killed three Israelis, a Palestinian and an American teenager on Thursday in one of the deadliest days in a recent outburst of Israeli-Palestinian violence.