A few days ago, the Occupation Court sentenced Sheikh Raed Salah to 28 months imprisonment in the case of what is known as the "constants" file, with 11 months of which he spent in the actual prison reduced, and that the execution of the judgment will start from August 16, after she rejected the appeal that Submitted by the defense attorneys for the Sheikh of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The verdict was to start in March, but the defense authority lodged an appeal with the decision, before an Israeli court, due to the circumstances of the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The court obliged the sheikh to remain in house confinement, within strict restrictions, the most prominent of which was his preventing him from communicating with the public, with the exception of first-degree relatives.
The court claimed that Sheikh Salah "incites terrorism" and supports a "banned organization", the Islamist movement within the Green Line, which he was leading. He was known for defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, and he led the Islamic movement's activity in organizing Rabat events, and the science masters of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to protect and preserve its identity.
Al-Jazeera Net met the Sheikh in his home in Umm al-Fahm, after he was allowed to speak to the media, and before entering prison, to talk to him about a number of files concerned with him, and his struggle for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.
The following is the text of the interview:
What do you say about the verdict of the actual prison sentence issued against you in the "file of constants"?
This decision aims to provide new tools of repression in the hands of the Israeli establishment or in the hands of the Israeli occupation at the level of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in particular, and Palestine in general, by criminalizing the principle of the Abadi bond at the maximum and suppressing it by claiming that Israeli law provides immunity and cover for this repression.
The Magistrate’s Court judge insisted on criminalizing Rabat even though I explained to him the meaning of Rabat legally and heritage, I explained exactly the meaning of Rabat, and I told the judge, I challenge you to prove that there is any incitement in this religious and ideological sense of Rabat, however the judge is deaf to his ears, and he is actually making the decision, whether I speak or explain or I did not speak the meanings of Rabat.
I was aware of this position of the Israeli judiciary, I told the judges of the Central Court, who also criminalized Rabat, I will speak to you clearly, your crime has nothing to do with the truth, and your decision relied on political ambitions and preconceived ideas, and an Israeli public atmosphere that views the Palestinian presence as a problem and a dilemma from the Israeli point of view.
What I declare is a victory for God, history, and constants, and in this case I consider myself the victor, so imprisonment is a very secondary issue, for sacrifices are inevitable in the process of liberating peoples, so any people who are not prepared to pay sacrifices cannot maintain their existence and advance the liberation process.
What are the repercussions of your imprisonment on the comprehensive principles of the Palestinian people and national action within the Green Line?
I suggest to the Arab Follow-up Committee inside the Palestinian Authority to discuss in depth this particular question, my condemnation was not a condemnation of a leading person Salah, but rather an condemnation of Islamic, Arab and Palestinian constants, and it is a condemnation of the Qur'an, Sunnah, Arabic language and Palestinian folklore according to the Israeli vision.
We are in a crazy phase, and according to this spirit that envelops the decision, they will have the right to try everyone who is silent and refrains from condemning any "terrorist" act from the point of view of the Israeli establishment.
Raed Salah will be imprisoned, but what about our daily mobility and existential issues? What about our relationship with our Palestinian people, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa? What about our Arab and Islamic extension? Will every rightful owner of the word fixed right be persecuted on the basis of my conviction? Will the Palestinian people be singled out, undermine our self-confidence, our discourse and our constants, muffle our mouths and surrender in advance?
What I declare is a victory for God, history, and constants. In this case, I consider myself the victor. Prison is a very secondary issue.
A rule that I believe in, people may weaken and they are currently afflicted by that, and history testifies to that, and we are not the only people who are afflicted by weakness, but this is no excuse for us to abandon our constants, the minimum required if we cannot support the constants, at least not abandon our fateful issues And it is Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, the land, the house, the Palestinian people, and our Arab and Islamic extension, so we can stay with all these issues.
Is there a relationship to coincide with the decision of your prison and what the Palestinian issue, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in particular are exposed to?
The policy of the Israeli establishment is based on the integration of its arms, in the sense that its security arm is in harmony with the judicial, political and media arm. I mean, they are now trying to spread fear in the march of our Palestinian people and spread terror to reach the Palestinian person to think over and over before speaking or participating in a demonstration or sit-in, or even pulling travelers to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, or go in solidarity with the displacement of the village of Al-Araqib in the Negev or address the confiscation of land or the demolition of housing.
So did Israel deliberately arrest you at a time when some regional voices promoting the century deal and the annexation plan were raised?
To make it clear, the century deal or the annexation plan is a prelude to the scheme of displacement and deportation, through which they try to spread fear and replace the stability of our Palestinian people, that we are helpless and powerless, that we are gripped by all aspects of life, and we can do nothing, and that we only have to submit to American dictates Israeli to preserve our lives.
This strategic philosophy, now adopted by the Israeli establishment, does not want anyone who challenges, nor does it want someone to say no. And a prison decision is directed in this direction to perpetuate this Israeli philosophy, as if we must turn into puppets without freedom and movement that move with the will of Tel Aviv and Washington. Therefore, what is required is to challenge this philosophy that wants to abort the constants, suppress our will and paralyze our movement, and what is required to confront that is a more leadership role for the leaders, more than the role of the masses, and whoever tries to reflect the equation and depends only on the public dimension is wrong.
I warn, if we identify with this Israeli policy, we may reach a stage in which we melt, melt constants, and ignore our history and what is the Palestinian issue, and we may reach a stage asking some what is our right to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa? What is the meaning of our association with the Arab and Islamic worlds?
How do you explain the Israeli harmony with some Arab regimes, particularly those that print them, by pursuing and criminalizing the project of political Islam?
I am in a state of great anxiety, and if I suffer for what is going on in the Arab region, I have said it clearly, normalization is totally rejected and it is ugly at all, but normalization at this time is a stab in the side of the Palestinian cause, and a stab for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, yet I return and say that this normalization represents only a person Of course, the Arab and Islamic peoples have their live conscience rejecting this normalization.
If we identify with Israeli policy, we may reach a stage in which we melt, melt constants, and ignore our history and what is the Palestinian issue.
I say that the Zionist project was not historically the only project that defused its muscles in Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, and Palestine. There were many projects in varying periods that proved 100 years or less. In the end, the projects went and ceased to exist, and the Arab and Islamic nation and the Palestinian people remained, and the Zionist project will not be an exception. this result.
For three years, the Israeli authorities have looked after you and imposed house arrest and prevented you from speaking to the public and statements to the media. How did you tolerate this forced silence?
The Israeli establishment was disappointed and its plans bounced back, and over the years of the trial, the crowds of my community and people of mine accompanied me in the court sessions, to support, support, and affirm the principles and the right position in this judicial battle, which we fought with the Israeli establishment, and we, thank God, have won a victory in this judicial battle.
Hot issues and files topped the event in Jerusalem, and the voice and role of Sheikh Salah was forcibly absent, to what extent did this absence negatively affect these files?
The Israeli establishment tried to impose itself as a reference for the Arabic language, the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the Palestinian folklore and heritage, and it cannot do so, just as it tried to explain again the meaning of martyrdom in the way of God, and the criminalization of martyrdom
The Israeli establishment attempted to criminalize the cult of Rabat in the Al-Aqsa Mosque until it found an excuse in the name of the law to arrest, chase, and prosecute thousands of our fans who continued to worship Rabat in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and travel to Jerusalem, but it failed, and Rabat worship remained stronger than all Israeli judicial, security and media institutions.
The Israeli establishment also tried to impose itself as a reference for the Arabic language, the Qur'an, the Sunnah, folklore and the Palestinian heritage, and it cannot do so, just as it tried to explain again the meaning of martyrdom in the way of God, and the criminalization of martyrdom, and tried to explain and criminalize this great slogan "with the soul in blood we redeem you oh Maximum".
How have you been following many hot files and issues remotely due to house arrest?
I was in pain because of this reality, which imposed on me and prevented me from interfering in my role towards my various issues and files. I was hoping to break the silence and speak .. to write .. to scream .. but something essential that I would like to mention is the conscience of the Palestinian people.
This conscience, which cannot die, defeat, or mislead, may be attempts at a media war against the conscience, a repressive war by deportation and expulsion until murder, but in the end the conscience of our Palestinian people is the victor.
This living conscience draws its strength from the constants, so it preserves the truth and has a conviction that rejects anything against the constants, so I am reassured, if it were imprisoned now, if it were pushed to the far corners of the earth, even if it died now, no tyrant force would defeat this living Palestinian conscience.
Returning to Jerusalem and the holy sites, what symbolizes the neutralization of the role of endowments and the gradual withdrawal of Jordanian guardianship of Al-Aqsa Mosque?
In 2017, during my stay in prison, I was subjected to an investigation by the Israeli intelligence centered around the so-called status quo in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, the constants and sovereignty over Al-Aqsa and the slogan we raise “Al-Aqsa is in danger” and I told them that there is no compromise on the constants and that Al-Aqsa will remain in danger as long as the Israeli occupation exists .
I told them know that the status quo in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa does not change, many things around it may change, it is an Islamic and Arab weakness, but the Israeli presence is void and disappearing.
What is required is one and unified sovereignty to support Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. The occupation wants to create clashes between more than one. For us, the solution is clear at the current stage. Sovereignty based on Al-Aqsa is Jordanian.
From our point of view, what is required is one and unified sovereignty to support Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. The occupation wants to create clashes between more than one. For us, the solution is clear at the current stage in terms of existing sovereignty. It is Jordanian at the most, through an endowment body that works on behalf of the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, and we must maintain This extension of sovereignty.
We have been keenly determined - through the role of the Islamic movement in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa - that this be done under the auspices of the Awqaf Authority as an extension of the role of endowments and Jordanian sovereignty to the maximum.
We do not want the Israeli occupation to cause a clash and struggle between the Islamic movement and the endowments and Jordan. We do not work from a vacuum but rather work through Jordanian sovereignty.
I warn, and assure that the Israeli occupation, by mixing papers on sovereignty, wants to strain and ship the situation between Arab and Islamic countries and neutralize the Jordanian role, in order to impose its absolute sovereignty on the maximum, and I should ask everyone to be careful about this scheme, and to preserve the Jordanian and Palestinian role to the maximum .
So, is this Israeli neutralization consistent with the statements calling for Saudi Arabia to be given the ultimate guardianship under the deal of the century?
The picture is clear and I say it clearly, if what is meant is religious sovereignty at the extreme, it is for every Arab and every Muslim and every Palestinian, and it is for each generation of these generations, and therefore it is not permissible for anyone to be unique in this religious sovereignty, and if he intended the political sovereignty that gives rise to legal, administrative, and patronage Service, we must be clear that what is agreed upon is Jordanian sovereignty, which should not be relinquished but rather supported and preserved.
In order to support Jordanian sovereignty, it must be complementary. Every sovereignty wants to contribute, rightly and sincerely, to the support of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa through the status quo through the Jordanian Endowments Authority and the Ministry of Endowments. The main requirement is to pour all Arab and Islamic efforts until the achievement of a radical solution, which is the demise of the Israeli occupation.
On this, how do you read the Saudi-Emirati role in harmony with Trump and Netanyahu regarding the Palestinian issue?
It is consistent with a root cause in the calculation of the Zionist project, which announced its strategy since Herzl and after him, Ben-Gurion, and Israeli leaders still repeat it, which are statements about imposing reality, and that there is no value for Israel without Jerusalem and no value for Jerusalem without the Temple.
The present is painful in light of the pandemic of normalization for some people, but the lives of peoples are much longer than the lives of the leaders, and therefore the future of the Arab and Islamic peoples and conscience will win for Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and Palestine
The Arab and Islamic peoples as well as the Saudi and Emirati people carry our morals, roots, constants and civilization, and many institutions even in the printing countries reject normalization, now someone has appeared and wants to change peoples through normalization, and these are unsuccessful attempts, because the people will reject and will not be satisfied and will not go behind him to find the printing press itself amputated, because He who allows himself to be cut off from the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic constants will be boycotted by peoples whose conscience will remain the compass, true, the present is painful in light of the pandemic of normalization for some people, but the lives of peoples are much longer than the lives of leaders, and therefore the future for the peoples and the Arab and Islamic conscience is the one who will win for Jerusalem Al-Aqsa and Palestine.
How did you read Turkish President Erdogan's statement that the opening of the Hagia Sophia Mosque is a prelude to the liberation of Al-Aqsa?
Let's take the matter from a simplified view. The Hagia Sophia Mosque is not a fad, bearing the name for about 500 years, where it was a mosque where prayers were raised and the call to prayer was raised. The beginning during the reign of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror was not based on falsehood, but on something that is recognized and has precedents in the past and present. In the march of the European world, it is not strange for them to sell churches, and Muhammad al-Fateh purchased the Hagia Sophia Church and turned it into a mosque.
Ataturk was hostage to European pressures, and transformed the Hagia Sophia mosque into a museum, and today Turkey is free from these pressures, lives in stability and has sovereignty and will, and feels that it is not subject to European pressure, and therefore the situation returned to its origin in Hagia Sophia, and therefore it is natural for the Turkish President to say that This is an introduction to the liberation of Al-Aqsa, and I say: There is no complete value for our sovereignty over our mosques until they coalesce with the sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this will not be done until the Israeli occupation ends.