Israel's Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Tuesday that the 14 prominent members of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel arrested overnight had "illegally" transferred to Hamas movement in the Palestinian territories millions of shekels in funds collected abroad.
The head of Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, was among those detained in the raid, in which dozens of Israeli police officers and personnel from the Shin Bet security service, swooped down on the northern city of Umm al-Fahm at around 1 A.M., entering the offices of the Al-Aqsa Association, where they confiscated documents and equipment.
A spokesman for the Islamic Movement denied that any of the funds collected and distributed by the group had been transferred to Hamas.
The Movement responded with an angry press conference called in Umm el-Fahm, where representatives urged all the country's Arabs to demonstrate against the arrests and for clerics to preach against the crackdown in the mosques.
Hamas denounced the arrests as "a new escalation against Muslims and Arabs in occupied Palestine."
Some 150 members of the Islamic Movement's northern branch protested outside the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon, as fifteen leaders of the northern branch, who were arrested in an overnight raid, were brought in for an extension of their remand.
The protestors waved Islamic Movement flags and banners that read "Today Sheikh Ra'ad, tomorrow all Arabs" and "Israeli democracy is a red line for all Arabs."
Recently, Head of Shin Bet Security Services -Avi Dekhter submitted a report, claiming that there is "an increase of the phenomenon of Arab citizens in Israel getting related to different resistance movements such as Huzballah, Fatah, and Hamas."
Sheikh Raed Salah, a vocal opponent of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, served in the past as the mayor of Umm El-Fahm.
Meanwhile, two Arab Knesset members Tuesday told Al Bawaba that the arrest of the Islamists by the Israeli security services was an attempt by Israel to label Arab Israelis as "terrorists" - an accusation fashioned in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York.
The head of the Arab movement and Knesset member Ahmad al-Tibi said the arrest of Sheikh Salah and his colleagues has marked the peak of a campaign [against Israeli Arabs] the Israeli security services had started following the start of the al Aqsa Intifada. “This campaign has resulted in the death of 13 Arab Israelis, in addition to arrests and accusations against Arab parties, movements and politicians,” Tibi said.
“As a result of the Israeli public opinion being influenced by the right and the domination by [Israeli right wing] extremists of the Israeli government, pressures have been intensified on Israel’s security services to put us out of the realm (protection) of the law,” Tibi told Albawaba.
Tibi described the Israeli operation as “unjustified and one that targets Arab values”, reiterating that the Islamic Movement is legitimate and lawful. He said “he called the Higher Committee for the Arab Public for an urgent meeting to discuss this development, which constitutes a serious turn in the relationship between the state and the Arab communities in Israel.”
“As they tried to deprive me of my right to run for public office, they labeled me as a terrorist. This accusation is always ready and available against any Arab in Israel,” said Tibi. He added, “this joint police and intelligence maneuver is aimed at excluding Arabs in Israel from any political activity.”
It should be noted that Tibi was himself targeted by several [right wing] extremists in the Israeli Knesset. He was accused of ‘supporting terrorism’ when he spoke against Israel’s military operations in the Jenin refugee camp as well as other Palestinian cities. The Knesset lifted immunity on Tibi and later had to appear before an Israeli court that eventually found him not guilty of any of the charges brought against him. His victory in court silenced those critics that called for banning him from parliamentary elections in Israel.
“The Arabs in Israel will continue to support Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in their struggle for liberation through legitimate means,” said Tibi.
Knesset member Abdel Malek Dahamsheh said Arabs in Israel have become used to such treatment by the Israeli authorities. “They treat us as guilty until we prove our innocence. This is completely opposite to the principle the world has accepted – innocent till proven guilty,” Dahamsheh said.
The Arab Knesset member told Al Bawaba that “last night’s arrests were aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the Islamic bloc (in Israel) as well as Arab Israelis,” adding that it is not the first campaign [against them] that will prove to be wrong. He also spoke about arrangements being made at the Knesset to hold an emergency session to discuss this case. He also called for the immediate release of the arrested leaders while describing what happened as an “illegal and irresponsible move indicative of the influence of the rightwing extremists within the Israeli government, whose aim is to jeopardize the legitimacy of the Arab [political] movements in Israel.”
Israeli reports cited sources in the Israeli police as saying that other arrests would be carried out over the coming days. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
