Salah’s arrest sparks new disputes in UK

UK Border Agency claims it had warned the Home Secretary Theresa May not to deport Sheikh Raed Salah, the Palestinian activist, since “the case was very finely balanced.”

Sheikh Salah, the most influential Palestinian political leader in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was arrested in Britain upon May’s order after visiting London on an invitation by the research institute, Middle East Monitor.

He was invited to give speeches on a speaking tour to emphasize the difficulty of Palestinians in the occupied Palestine, and the threat to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem (al-Quds).

The reason behind his arrest originated from allegations of anti-Semitism, which he strongly denied. The pro-Israel groups have praised the British government’s move, and accused Salah of a “blood libel” against Jews.

May was seeking to find a cause for Salah’s exclusion, even before the evidence against him had been confirmed, The Guardian reported.

CST’s, a UK charity monitoring anti-Semitism, insisted in a report that the presence of Salah in Britain could have “a radicalising impact” on people.

However, UK Border Agency officials expressed their uncertainties.

Jon Rosenom-Lanng from the Special Cases Directorate (SCD) wrote to Home Secretary, saying while there was an evidence allowing her to “exclude Salah on the grounds of unacceptable behaviour, the disputed underlying evidence could make an exclusion decision vulnerable to legal challenge.”

“We assess that this case is very finely balanced,” he added.

Tayab Ali, Saleh’s solicitor, said that when the secretary of country planned to exclude someone from Britain, it was imperative the correct policy was followed. “The home secretary made a decision and then searched for reasons to justify it. It is not for the home secretary to determine who should speak in parliament. This is an attack on parliamentary democracy,” he added.

Salah’s case openly revealed that the British government, who has long been the cheerleader of Zionist Israel and hosted the suspected war criminals in the country, is against the activities of pro-Palestine campaigners, as it planned to arrest and exclude the leader of a Palestinian movement who came to the country to speak about building peace and justice in Jerusalem.