Jerusalem police arrest Islamic Movement leaders for disturbing the peace

Police arrest three after Palestinian stone throwers on Temple Mount injure policeman.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
palestinians throw rocks temple mount 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
palestinians throw rocks temple mount 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A police officer was lightly injured and three members of the northern branch of the fundamentalist Islamic Movement were arrested at the Temple Mount Wednesday, after several rock-throwing Palestinians attacked visiting groups, police said.
According to Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, two of the three men arrested are senior officials of the extremist organization. All three were charged with incitement to cause violence at the shared holy site. Police were forced to use pepper spray to defend themselves and calm the situation, Rosenfeld said.
Two weeks earlier, following an inflammatory speech calling for violence against Jews at the Temple Mount during Rosh Hashana, the Islamic Movement’s leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, was arrested while en route to the riot he organized.
Salah’s sermon accused Israel of being behind the crisis in Egypt and throughout the Arab world, and claimed Jerusalem police planned to set the Temple Mount alight during Rosh Hashana.
Salah was held by police for approximately 24-hours after refusing the terms of a court order that mandated he stay at least 30 kilometers away from the capital for six months and pay NIS 50,000 in bond.
Despite accepting the court’s terms and being released outside the capital, Salah again incited violence against Jews, ordering his followers to riot on the Temple Mount, resulting in violence on two separate occasions before and during Rosh Hashana.
The rioting resulted in 22 arrests and the injuries of two police officers.
The Islamic Movement, also known as the Islamic Movement in 48 Palestine, is a pro-Palestinian and anti- Zionist organization based in northern and southern Israel. Its origins can be traced back to the latter years of the British mandate.