Rishon Lezion, central Israel - 15 August 2017
1. Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, in court
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel:
"This is a prolonged persecution of our people by the Israeli government, it is a political witch hunt. This is an attempt to distract the media with my arrest and away from the charges against Netanyahu."
3. Various of Salah in court
4. Salah's wife walking down corridor in court building
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Zabarka, Salah's lawyer:
"It seems that the Israeli government is trying to place its failure and the failure of its policies in the area on Sheikh Raed Salah. The systematic incitement that Sheikh Raed Salah was subjected to recently is what led to the investigation today. In our opinion and from what we heard from the statements by ministers in the Israeli government and Jewish members of parliament from the government, we have the impression that this case is a political witch hunt that is not related to reaching the truth in any way."
6. Zabarka talking on phone
7. Jamal Zahalka, Arab Knesset member, being filmed for TV
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jamal Zahalka, Arab Knesset member:
"We demand the immediate release of Sheikh Raed Salah. This is a political arrest and an arbitrary detention This is an attempt to silence the voices and besiege our political action, we, the Arab Palestinians inside Israel. The goal is to scare people so as not to go to defend Al-Aqsa mosque."
9. Various of exterior of court
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Safwat Freij, vice president for the Islamic Movement in Israel:
"We came here from the north and from the centre to enter to the court, and they prevented us from entering. We are citizens in this country and we don't have rights, we were even not allowed to enter to the court. They (Israelis) claim that they have a right in Al-Aqsa mosque and we say they don't have a right in it. Sheikh Raed Salah and every Palestinian citizen say that Al-Aqsa mosque is only for the Muslims and whoever says that is considered by the extreme right government an enemy and should be tried."
11. Close of Israeli flags
12. Wide of court
Raed Salah stands in the dock at a court in Rishon Lezion.
Israeli police arrested him today (Tuesday) on suspicion of inciting violence and involvement in an outlawed organisation.
Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, calls it a "political witch hunt".
"This is an attempt to distract the media with my arrest and away from the charges against Netanyahu," he says.
Salah completed a nine-month prison sentence in January for "incitement to violence" and "incitement to racism".
He has had repeated run-ins with Israeli authorities and was previously imprisoned for funnelling money to Hamas, the Islamic militant Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media reported that Salah was arrested for remarks delivered in a speech last month at the funeral of three Arab-Israeli gunmen who killed two police officers at a contested Jerusalem holy site.
In the speech, he praised the attackers and exhorted others to follow their example.
But his lawyer Khaled Zabarka defends the cleric.
"It seems that the Israeli government is trying to place its failure and the failure of its policies in the area on Sheikh Raed Salah," he says.
He claims to case is "not related to reaching the truth in any way".
Israel banned Salah's group in 2015.
Safwat Freij, vice president for the Islamic Movement in Israel, has come to court to lend his support but claims he has been prevented from entering.
Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Israel Radio that Salah is "a danger to the public" for encouraging "radicalism and despicable acts of murder," while Arab-Israeli lawmakers called for his immediate release.
A court has extended his detention until Thursday.
