Sheikh Raed Salah wins appeal

Sheikh Raed Salah, the prominent Palestinian spokesperson has won his court appeal overturning home secretary Theresa May’s deportation order issued against him last year.

The decision by the Home Secretary, and the circumstances surrounding the detaining of Salah, caused widespread anger last year as the Sheikh’s visit was widely publicised before he entered the UK in June.

It has now caused embarrassment for the government.

The justification offered at the time by May was that the government believed  Salah’s presence in the UK was not ‘conducive to the public good’

The contradiction within this reasoning was initially laid bare by the fact that Salah had already at that point undergone several notable speaking engagements, including one in Parliament before he was taken into custody by Home Office officials.

The hypocrisy of the ruling was also evident due to the fact that the government had since 2010, taken steps to underwrite the law of universal jurisdiction, the principle which, under the 4th Geneva Convention stipulates that suspected international war criminals can be prosecuted here in the UK.

One of the reasons for this move was summed up in 2010 by foreign secretary William Hague who significantly said “We cannot have a position where Israeli politicians feel they cannot visit this country the situation is unsatisfactory [and] indefensible. It is absolutely my intention to act speedily.”

Tzipi Livni the former Israeli foreign minister who oversaw Operation Cast Lead which led to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians between December 2008 and January 2009, faced calls for prosecution but has since visited the UK despite this.

The contrast between the government’s treatment of Sheikh Salah, innocent of any crime, and the Coalitions eagerness to smooth the way for Israeli government officials to visit the UK is comparable to the contrasting statements of Livni and Amnesty International respectively, regardingthe bloodbath that was operation cast lead.

Amnesty International described Cast Lead as “22 days of death and destruction”

The official line from Livni on the atrocity was that she was “proud of all her decisions regarding Operation Cast Lead”

In addition to a ruling last year which saw Salah awarded compensation for his ‘unlawful detention,’ Saturday saw the Immigration court not only overturn the original deportation order, but also the banning order itself which was the original justification for the disgraceful treatment of Salah.

The ruling stated:

“There is no evidence that the danger perceived by the Secretary of State is perceived by any of the other countries where the appellant has been, nor, save for the very tardy indictment, is there any evidence that even Israel sees the danger that the Secretary of State sees.”

Further details of the case are due to emerge, but Justice in this case at least has prevailed.

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