Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem

Initially reported wounded on the Freedom Flotilla, Sheikh Raed Salah -- a beacon of the struggle against Israeli oppression -- is unharmed.

As an outspoken opponent to the Israeli occupation, especially Jewish attempts to gain a foothold at Islamic holy places in East Jerusalem, Sheikh Raed Salah Mahajneh has been a thorn in Israel's side for many years, for his tireless but peaceful protests against Israeli repression of the Palestinians.

Disturbed by his views and non-violent opposition, the Israeli authorities arrested and imprisoned the 52-year-old Islamic activist a number of times, mostly on frivolous or totally concocted charges such as "endangering the state of Israel," "aiding a terrorist organisation" or "incitement against the state."

Salah was onboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla when it was brutally attacked by Israeli forces in international waters around dawn Monday. Initially, Israeli sources rumoured that leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel was "grievously injured" or even killed by gunfire. However, it emerged later that he was unhurt.

On Tuesday, 1 June, Salah was quoted as saying rumours of his death or grievous injury fell within Israeli attempts to assassinate him. He told an Israeli Arab website that the current Israeli government made the biggest folly in the history of Israel when it attacked the aid convoy in international waters. Israel, he said, committed a crime of mass murder -- killing and wounding dozens of innocent people. He added that Israel was now trying to fabricate accusations and charges against him and other people taking part in the Freedom Flotilla in order to escape blame for the crime its soldiers committed 36 hours earlier.

Salah was born in 1958 in the Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm in Israel. He received his college education in the West Bank at the Sharia College in Al-Khalil (Hebron). In 1980, he obtained a BA in Islamic Law, or Sharia. Upon returning to Umm Al-Fahm, Sheikh Salah became imam and speaker at local mosques. His eloquent preaching soon gained him thousands of followers who eventually formed Israel's first Islamic movement, which successfully galvanised the Arab community in Israel and surprisingly unseated more established traditional political parties, such the Israeli Communist Party, Rakah.

In the early 1990s, Salah was elected as the first Islamist mayor of Umm Al-Fahm, which galvanised the Arab community and featured its societal predominance. During the past 15 years, Salah devoted much of his time to exposing Israeli efforts to destabilise the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque by way of digging subterranean tunnels beneath the Islamic edifice, considered the world's third holiest Islamic shrine. The soft-spoken sheikh organised massive rallies attended by tens of thousands of people during which participants declared their loyalty to Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Islam.

When Israel banned Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque, Salah helped organise convoys of Muslims from Israel itself to the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) compound in Jerusalem, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.

Exasperated by his activism, the Israeli government impatiently sought a pretext to arrest him. During the so-called October riots in 2000, an Israeli Shin Bet (domestic intelligence) agent sought to insert a narcotic substance into the sheikh's pocket, apparently in order to besmirch his image in the eyes of the Arab and Palestinian masses. Knowing the truth, his popularity continued to rise among the Palestinians and Arabs, which only made the Israeli government and the Shin Bet security apparatus increase their vindictiveness towards him.

A few years later, Salah was arrested and tried on mostly fabricated charges, alleging that he had been involved in transferring funds to Hamas. He challenged his accusers, saying they had no right to accuse him since they were foreign occupiers. He argued that helping poor people, such as orphans, was a noble Islamic duty and that this in no way constituted support for terrorism. Eventually, in 2004, Salah was sentenced to more than three years in jail.

Salah is known for his close relationship with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, having a modest lifestyle, high moral standards, a quiet and peaceful character and a gentle smile always on his face.

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By Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem, Source: Ahram Weekly: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/index.htm