Will Israel's ban on the Islamic Movement lead to further restrictions?
Some observers fear that the recent ban of the Islamic Movement's northern branch might serve as a precedent for Israel to tighten the noose on its Arab citizens.
EAST JERUSALEM — Supporters of the Islamic Movement's northern branch in Israel are trying to counter the country's recent ban on the group — a ban one former Arab Knesset member called “a preamble for racist resolutions to come."
The High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel has organized acts of solidarity for the Islamic Movement branch. The committee erected a permanent tent of solidarity in the city of Umm al-Fahm on Nov. 18, one day after the ban was issued.
The ban, announced suddenly on Nov. 17, prohibits the movement's activities and stipulates that all of its institutions must be closed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to justify the decision by saying, “The northern branch of the Islamic Movement … incites violence against the innocent and is establishing close ties with the Hamas terror group and it undermines the state in order to set up in its place an Islamist caliphate."
