Salah delivers yet another harsh speech
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Sheikh Salah: Israeli leaders murderers, criminals
Leader of Islamic Movement's northern Branch slams Israel for committing 'war crimes'
Israeli leaders are "murderers and criminals" engaged in "war crimes," a top Arab-Israeli leader said Saturday in the wake of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip.
"Thanks to just and fair courts around the world, we shall persecute them everywhere," Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, said in a Nazareth speech.
Thousands arrived to watch the speech, delivered in the framework of a protest against the Gaza siege.
In his address, Salah slammed "Israel's cowardly occupation," noting that "we heard in the Israeli media that the leadership of Israel's occupation fears a military operation in Gaza."
"How shameful," Salah added. "Did your fear, you bunch of cowards, prompt you to introduce the siege on Gaza? An ongoing siege on our sturdy people in the Gaza Strip. Don't you know you're committing war crimes? You are criminals and murderers."
The Muslim leader also disparaged Israel's military capabilities, saying that "you can prepare your aircraft and all your military reinforcements, yet the honor of the martyrs in Gaza will defeat you."
Salah later turned his attention to Arab leaders, blasting them too. "Where is your honor when you see thousands of angry people in Gaza?" he said. "You should dispatch ships carrying humanitarian assistance, as did the brave group from Europe. We don't want you to send more coffins."
Before the rally, Islamic Movement activists traveled through Arab communities in northern Israel, urging resident to donate money for Gaza residents. Meanwhile, senior movement officials called on group members to donate $50 per month for the sake of Gazans
