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Who is R.S.?

Raed Salah

The Ghandi of Palestine

• Raed Salah was born in 1958 in the Palestinian town of Umm al-Fahm of the territories occupied in 1948. Being one of the "48 Palestinians" (i.e. governed by the Israeli occupation since 1948), he holds an Israeli passport, which enabled him to move smoothly across the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, as well as to visit several European countries for attending the gatherings of the Palestinian Diaspora and conferences for solidarity with the Palestinian people and Jerusalem’s issue.

• He enjoys an unprecedented popularity among the Palestinian people, especially that though he faced several threats from Israeli officials and intelligence agencies of the occupation authorities, he remained one of the most daring Palestinian figures in his fight against the occupation that led to his imprisonment more than once. In addition to his charismatic personality, he is known for his close relationship with the Palestinian citizens, especially since he has been notorious for his modest way of life, high morals, quiet character and kind smile that never leaves his face.

• He began his political and public career in 1989 through his candidacy for mayor of Umm al-Fahm (subject to the Israeli occupation since 1948), when he marked a tremendous victory with more than 70% of the votes. He won the municipal elections two times in a row in 1993 and 1997. He then decided in 2001 to voluntarily give up his post for defending the Palestinian cause and to stand for the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants under the growing Israeli threats.

• He leads the “Islamic Movement in Palestine 48" - the Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli forces in 1948- the most popular political forces in those areas. Salah and the movement he leads rejected the candidacy for seats in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) as he believes there are no opportunities to end the occupation through parliamentary life due to the dominance of military, intelligence and extremist and racist forces over the Israeli political life.

• He is famous for his tireless and peaceful protests against the Israeli occupation and its continued violations. His reliance on non-violent means, made him sometimes known as the "Gandhi of Palestine." In addition to the social programs and the humanitarian and educational projects he stand behind, in 1998 Raed Salah launched the "self-reliant community" initiative which aimed to achieve the Palestinians 48’s self-development and economical independence from the Israeli occupation.

• He has repeatedly drawn the attention to the successive Israeli governments’ usage of peace agreements with the Palestinian side as pretexts for continuing its expansionist policies on the Palestinian lands against the Palestinian citizens; that includes the continuous violations against the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, and the imposition of the occupation on the Palestinian territories.

• In 2002, the Israeli Ministry of Interior has issued an order barring him from travelling abroad, and the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice has then refused the plea Salah made to cancel this order.

• He was among the first who launched mass campaigns against the policies of the Israeli occupation against the city of Jerusalem -especially the occupation’s continuous attacks on the Islamic and Christian sanctities- and the destruction of tombs and encroachment on Ma`man Allah historical cemetery.

• In 2009 and 2010, the Israeli occupation authorities issued military orders banning him from entering Jerusalem, after he was able to detect a series of hidden Israeli plans for the implementation of confidential wide-ranging fossils around the Aqsa Mosque and the construction of complex tunnels under the Islamic and Christian holy sites and historical walls of Jerusalem.

• He led many solidarity movements with the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, in light of the Israeli occupation authorities’ campaigns that aim at expelling them from their homes, withdrawing their identities and denying their residences in the city. He has had a direct role in organizing daily convoys of buses loaded with masses of people from the Arab towns and villages occupied in 1948 showing solidarity with the Old City of Jerusalem’s inhabitants.

• Over the last years, he has been playing an effective role in activating the demand to fulfil the right of return for the Palestinian refugees, who were expelled by Israeli forces from their towns and villages in 1948. For this purpose, he participated in a number of gatherings and conferences organized by the Palestinian refugees in Europe to claim their right to return to Palestine. Raed Salah is famous for his dictum declared in the sixty-year anniversary of the Nakba (1948’s catastrophe) in which he said "no retreat from the right of return”.

• In 2000, the Israeli troops opened fire on him when he was shot in the head and was about to lose his life. The incident was considered as an attempted assassination by observers. The Israeli occupation authorities arrested him several times, the first was in 1981. Between 2003 and 2005, Salah was imprisoned after the Israeli authorities sentenced him to two years in prison. After his release, he continued his public and popular movements against the occupation. He was then arrested many times by the from Israeli occupation forces for short periods due to his contribution to protesting rallies in solidarity with the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants.