Banned Islamist group long on Israel's radar

The radical northern wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel was banned on Tuesday, with the government accusing it of inciting violence. Here is an explanation of the movement:

- Origins -

The Islamic Movement was founded in the early 1970s, with the goal of "establishing an Arab Islamic state in Palestine," inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, according to a 2000 report by the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think-tank.

After several members were arrested in the early 1980s, including leader Abdallah Nimr Darwish, he decided to focus the group on spreading Islam, education and welfare programmes.

It has become somewhat of an alternative to Israeli authorities to a neglected population, establishing schools, clinics, mosques, libraries and sports clubs, analyst Nachman Tal wrote in the INSS report.

Israeli Arabs are descendants of Palestinians who remained after the creation of Israel in 1948 and account for more than 17 percent of the country's population.

A split within Palestinian movements in general in the 1990s, when the Oslo peace accords were drawn up, led to a fissure in the Islamic Movement.

In 1996, Darwish and the southern wing decided to run in parliamentary elections, while the northern wing felt this meant recognising Israeli institutions, which it deemed unacceptable.

Under the leadership of Raed Salah, the northern wing has become more radical, with calls at rallies for an Islamic caliphate in Jerusalem.

- Al-Aqsa tensions -
The highly sensitive Al-Aqsa compound, the third-holiest site in Islam after the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, has been the focus of the northern branch's anger.

It is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

For the past 20 years. the branch has held its annual conference under the slogan "Al-Aqsa is in danger", warning that Jews plan to destroy it to build a Third Temple in its place.

According to biblical tradition, the first and second Jewish temples were located at the site of the Al-Aqsa compound and destroyed by the Babylonians and the Romans.

Muslims believe it is the site from where the Prophet Mohammed ascended into heaven.

Clashes have often erupted at the site in recent years over fears Israel is plotting to change rules which currently state that Jews can visit but not pray there.

- Controversial leader -

Salah has spent time in Israeli prisons on charges ranging from incitement, to spitting on a policeman to funding Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas.
As tensions rose in September with an increase in Jewish visitors to Al-Aqsa during their religious holidays, Salah's wing urged Muslims to go to the compound and defend it.

The northern branch was accused of financing two Muslim groups, the female Murabitat and male Murabitun who act as self-appointed sentinels at Al-Aqsa, keeping an eye on Jewish visitors and harassing those they suspect of secretly praying.

Both groups were barred from the site when clashes erupted between Muslim protesters and Israeli police in September.

Strict Israeli security measures, including limits on who was allowed to enter, eventually halted the clashes at Al-Aqsa, but a new wave of violence that began in October has seen Palestinians target Israelis elsewhere with knife, gun and car-ramming attacks.

Violence since October has left 12 Israelis dead and 83 on the Palestinian side, one of them an Arab Israeli. Many of the Palestinians killed were alleged attackers, while others were shot dead during clashes with Israeli forces.
Source: AFP