The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank as part of an independent state, with east Jerusalem as their capital. This particular project, in the Ramat Shlomo area, has drawn American ire because it was first announced during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden in 2010.
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Netanyahu contends that the Islamic Movement’s northern section, which unlike its southern branch refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy, has encouraged assaults on Israelis.
Still Salah is somewhat of a peripheral figure in the landscape of Palestinian leaders.
Israel has repeatedly and vehemently denied Palestinian allegations that it is trying to change the status quo and has accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of lying and inciting to violence.
Early Tuesday, security forces raided offices of the movement and 17 associated organisations in Arab communities, police said, seizing cash, documents and computers.
Salah explained that the measure will not serve to annihilate his organization, which will “continue to exist and adhere to the principles on which it was founded”. Also killed was a Palestinian man, but police said it was unclear if he was hit by the attacker’s fire or that of Israeli forces.
Separately, Salah is set to start an 11-month jail term later this month in connection with incitement charges from a 2007 sermon.
Critics of Netanyahu’s move say the Islamic Movement of Northern Israel’s claims regarding the al-Aqsa mosque are protected speech.
“The streets of Jerusalem will be purified by the blood of the innocents whose souls were taken by the Israeli occupation soldiers”, he is quoted as saying. And Israel again used increased Jewish presence at the compound for the holidays to encroach upon Muslim prayer rights.
Also calling for firmer actions was the Im Tirtzu Zionist group, which turned to Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) asking that he order the heads of institutions of higher education to outlaw the Islamic Movement’s student groups, which go by the name Ikra.
Given Israeli surveillance and prosecution of citizens suspected of abetting the Palestinian attacks, one expert on Israeli Arab opinion also cast doubt on the need for the crackdown.
“The time has come for us to use all the tools at the country’s disposal in the war on terror and against the inciters who cause it”, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said in a statement.
Protests have mounted for months near the al-Aqsa mosque where Palestinians say Israel has breached the 1967 agreement for Jordanian stewardship over the religious sites.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli plan and settlement-building as a whole as a “flagrant violation of global law” aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Islamic Movement operates clinics, social services, soup kitchens, nursery schools, academic programs and even a soccer league.
“They have filled the vacuum of the government services in the Arab communities”, said Wadea Awawdeh, an Arab commentator in northern Israel.
Arab Israelis make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population.
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The horrifying scenes in Paris as a result of the barbaric attacks by Daesh terrorists that led to the massacre of 129 civilians and hundreds of casualties, shocked all, including the United States, which regrettably has been lethargic in its tackling of this terrorist group that has been in control of large Arab territories for the past four years.
