Sheik Raed Salah freed from British jail, may return to Israel

Sheik Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was released on bail from a British prison on Monday. He will remain under house arrest and is forbidden from speaking publicly in Britain while he awaits his deportation hearing.

Salah was arrested on June 29 for violating a ban on entering Britain. The outspoken leader, who has been repeatedly arrested in Israel for incitement and assaulting police, managed to bypass Heathrow airport security and was planning to speak to Parliament prior to his arrest.

Salah's attorney says his client has not decided whether he will stay in Britain or return to Israel. If he is deported without proving that he entered the country legally, he will not be allowed to enter Britain again for 10 years.

Salah's supporters are portraying his release as a victory. Ismail Patel, chair of the Friends of Al-Aqsa organization, told the Al-Jazeera network, "It is a tremendous relief that Sheik Raed's bail application was successful."

Prior to his arrest, the controversial Arab-Israeli Islamist leader had participated in a conference in Leicester, where local Muslims discussed the effects of the "Arab Spring" on Palestinians. On the day of his arrest, Salah had been set to address an event in Parliament organized by Labor MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Burden in conjunction with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Salah's arrest followed a direct appeal from Conservative MP Mike Freer in Parliament asking British Home Secretary Theresa May to deport Salah due to his "virulent anti-Semitism."

May also ordered a "full investigation" into how Salah had been able to enter the country.

British police said they suspected that he had managed to enter the country by adding a letter to his name. Arab media outlets similarly reported that Salah allegedly succeeded in passing through border control in London by using an alias or changing some of the letters of his name in his Israeli passport.

Salah's attorney, Farooq Bajwa, said his client was unaware of the entry ban against him, and added that he did not try to conceal his identity upon entry to Britain.

The Islamic Movement's northern branch accused "the Jewish lobby and pro-Zionist groups in Britain" of spurring Salah's arrest.