Sheikh with friend.
Sheikh with friend.Neturei Karta

The leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, visited the leaders of Neturei Karta in London Tuesday and thanked them for their participation in an anti-Israel rally Sunday.

Neturei Karta – Keepers of the City in Aramaic – is a fringe hareidi group that is vehemently opposed to Zionism and has openly sided with Israel's worst enemies, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Salah has been arrested and jailed numerous times in Israel for inciting Muslims against the Jewish state.

Members of the group attended the Al Quds Day rally in London carrying PLO flags and calling to liberate the Land of Israel from "Zionist occupation." They view the Israeli government and the modern Jewish state as heretical.

In describing Sunday's demonstration, a Neturei Karta writer explained that "the wondrous sight of hareidi Jews taking part in the sorrow and protest of gentiles against the Zionists always makes a great impression on the gentiles, who are very impressed to see that some Jews care about their safety and well being and do not seek wars and battles, just to follow the Torah and commandments."

Salah was arrested in London in July and freed two weeks later.

Salah was arrested in Britain because of “the great Zionist pressure on the government of England” to do so, and his arrest constitutes a dangerous “challenge to the nations,” a member of London's Neturei Karta opined in a July e-mail.
Neturei Karta members have met with Salah in the Land of Israel on several occasions, the message noted, and he has always received them with "great friendship and honor and assured them he has nothing against Jews, only against the Zionists."