Hamas condemns sentence against Sheikh Salah as political

[ 13/07/2010 - 04:55 PM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Hamas strongly condemned the Israeli court's sentence against Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, describing it as political par excellence. Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) wants to absent Sheikh Salah's role in defense of occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque. It charged the IOA with trying to block the Sheikh's efforts to expose its settlement projects and judaization practices in Jerusalem, describing such an attempt as "desperate". Hamas held the IOA fully responsible for the safety of Sheikh Salah, and urged all free people of the world to display solidarity with him and to foil the Israeli practices aimed at eliminating all leaderships that defend Jerusalem and the Palestinian people's rights, referring in this respect to the deportation order against four Jerusalemite deputies from their native hometown. The Israeli magistrate court in Jerusalem on Tuesday sentenced Sheikh Salah to five months imprisonment after his lawyers had appealed against a previous sentence of nine months imprisonment term. The Sheikh, commenting on the verdict, said that any ruling by an occupying power is null and void, adding that it fell in line with attempts to complete judaization of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque in a bid to build the mythical temple of Solomon. He affirmed that the sentence would not deter him from pursuing his support for the Aqsa and Jerusalem until the end of occupation.