The leader and 14 members of the Islamic Movement, the largest Arab organization in Israel, were arrested Tuesday on charges they funneled millions of dollars to the militant Hamas group, responsible for scores of suicide bombings. The arrests signaled a further downturn in relations between the Israeli government and the country's 1.2 million-strong Arab minority. The Islamic Movement has split into a more pragmatic branch that participates in Israel's political life, and a more radical branch that has come out in support of Hamas, a Palestinian group operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli police minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, alleged Tuesday that the so-called northern branch of the Islamic Movement "inflamed the bonfire of terrorism." Police and agents of the Shin Bet security service arrested the branch leader, Sheik Raed Salah, and 14 other members of the group. Kamal Khatib, the branch's No. 2 leader, denied the charges.
"We have no connection with an organization called Hamas," he told reporters at the group's headquarters, situated in a mosque in the Arab town of Umm el-Fahm in northern Israel. "We help orphans, but directly, not through any third party. Not one cent goes to families of those who carry out attacks." Hamas said the Islamic Movement provided humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, and it — Hamas — had no ties to the Israeli Arab group. It called the arrests "a new escalation against Muslims and Arabs in occupied Palestine." The arrests capped a two-year investigation.
| "We live here, but we don't read the papers. Hamas who? Never heard of 'em. No connection. You know us Arabs all look alike. You prob'ly got us mixed up with somebody else..." |
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