Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, was acquitted Tuesday by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in connection with a 2007 riot in Jerusalem’s Old City.Salah said he believed his acquittal to be the obvious outcome of his case. “The trial described the truth. The police should be blamed, and if true justice is sought, all of the four remaining cases against me should be closed,” he said.Salah was charged with assaulting a policeman during the February 2007 riot. The incident took place near the Dung Gate, when Salah and four other Israeli Arabs were protesting Israeli archeological excavations that were being conducted next to the Mughrabi Gate. According to the indictment, Salah waved a Syrian flag, spat in the face of a Border Police officer and yelled, “You are racists and murderers! You have no respect!” Salah and his cohorts also allegedly attempted to force their way into the excavation site.
