World Bulletin / News Desk
An Israeli court on Thursday convicted Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic movement inside Israel, on charges of "inciting violence."
Salah was acquitted, however, of "incitement to racism" charges by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.
The charges relate to a sermon Salah gave in 2007 in which he vowed to give his life in defense of the Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine.
That sermon was delivered in Jerusalem's Wadi Joz neighborhood after Israeli police prevented Salah from entering Jerusalem's Old City.
Israelis claim the sermon incited "violence and racism" against the Jewish people.
The court is expected to sentence Salah at a later date.
Groups of Jewish settlers, often accompanied by Israeli security forces, routinely storm the Aqsa Mosque complex in the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The frequent violations distress Palestinian Muslims and occasionally lead to violent clashes in the mosque compound.
Salah's Islamic Movement has repeatedly reiterated its determination to defend the iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque from violations by Israeli security forces and extremist Jewish settlers.
