Sheikh Raad Salah’s actions in leading a stormy and violent rally outside the Temple Mount, including cursing and spitting at a policeman, show scorn for Israel and its laws, according to a ruling by Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Yitchak Shimoni.
Judge Shimoni sentenced Salah on Wednesday to nine months in prison for the above incident, and ordered him to pay policeman Yigal Zinger 7,500 shekels in compensation.
The incident occurred in February 2007 between the Temple Mount and Dung Gate in the Old City, when some 30 Arabs arrived to protest Israeli construction work there. At one point, the policemen lined up in order to prevent the angry mob from attempting to enter the construction site. Amidst the pushing, shoving and cursing, Sheikh Salah – the leader of the radical anti-Israel Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement – walked up to policeman Zinger, spat at him and yelled, ‘You are racists and murderers!”
Insulting the state
Judge Shimoni said that Salah’s actions were worse than they appeared: “The accused spat in the policeman’s face as a way of showing his contempt for the policemen… His intention, as he said himself, was to insult not only that policeman, but also everything that he represents – the law and the State of Israel itself, which he considers the true criminal… He was the leader and dominant factor at the disturbance, and he fired up the other participants… It is clear that, because of the site’s importance, he knew the great potential for the incident to turn into something big… His behavior during the trial, including his laughter as the policeman described the attack, prove the derision he has for the law represented by the policeman, and the apathy he feels regarding his actions and their ramifications.”
“The accused is not an anonymous person,” the judge ruled, “but rather a man of religion, a leader in his community and in the eyes of many who follow him. He is a role model for his supporters… In addition, this is not his first conviction. His lawyers claimed that some of his previous convictions have been erased and should not be considered - but his conviction in the District Court in January 2005 was for serious crimes, rendering their request irrelevant.”
Sheikh Salah has served prison time more than once on charges of contacts with enemy agents, incitement, attacking police officers, and the like.
Just last month, Salah was forbidden from entering Jerusalem for a period of three weeks, by order of Northern District IDF Commander Gen. Yair Golan. "Salah's activities and statements over the years regarding Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have frequently caused tensions and even violence," an IDF official explained at the time. "The courts have ruled that his activities added to the outburst of violent incidents."