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ruled in October that Sheikh
Raed Saleh should be
deported. (AFP)
By AFP
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM
Arab-Israeli Islamist leader
Sheikh Raed Saleh returned to
Israel on Monday after
winning an annulment of an
order for his deportation from
Britain, an Israeli immigration official told AFP. "He entered without problems
as he has Israeli nationality,"
Sabine Haddad said. A British immigration tribunal
ruled in October that the pro-
Palestinian activist, arrested
after managing to enter
Britain despite a ban, should
be deported. But a higher tribunal granted
Saleh's appeal earlier this
month. Britain's Interior Minister
Theresa May had argued
unsuccessfully that the
presence of Saleh, the head of
the northern wing of Israel's
Islamic Movement, was not conducive to the public good. The father of eight was
arrested in London in June,
several days after arriving for
a 10-day trip during which he
was due to address several
meetings including one in parliament organized by the
Palestinian Solidarity
Campaign. Saleh was later freed on bail
under strict conditions,
including that he wear an
electronic tag and report daily
to immigration officials. In September, the High Court
in London ruled that he was
entitled to damages from the
government as he was not
informed why he was being
held until two days after his arrest. But the court rejected the
claim that his detention as a
whole was unlawful. Saleh has had multiple run-ins
with the law in Israel,
including most recently being
arrested at the border with
Jordan after allegedly striking
an interrogator. In 2010, he spent five months
behind bars for spitting at an
Israeli policeman, and he has
been detained on a number of
other occasions, including in
connection with an alleged arson incident. Critics of Saleh claim he is anti-
Semitic -- an allegation he
denies. The Islamic Movement is
tolerated in Israel but is under
constant surveillance due to
its perceived links with the
militant Hamas movement
that controls the Gaza Strip, as well as with other Islamist
groups worldwide...
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