No Wonder

I am very pleased that Raed Salah is not allowed in this country, although I wish that I could say the same about many, many others. But what is he fighting for? Be born into certain ethnic minorities within Israel's 1948 borders, and you are automatically subject to Sharia law. Far more people should know that than do. Salah, waving his Star of David passport and with the name of that state in that of his organisation, obviously knows it very well indeed.

Israel's Sharia courts are those of the State of Israel. Their rulings in relation to those born under their jurisdiction are the law of the land, and their judges are appointed and paid by the state. By contrast, although the State of Israel treats family law rulings by entirely private Christian religious courts as a fait accompli, that is as far as any relationship goes. No wonder that Salah is such a proud and happy Israeli.

He is not the only one. He was previously Mayor of Umm al-Fahm, a 100% Arab and 99.7% Muslim city which has been run by the Islamic Movement for many years and where 83% of the population recently voted against transfer to Palestinian jurisdiction. If you want to be the Islamic Movement's fiefdom, then Israel will let you be it, and will even pay your bills. Rather like David Cameron's "Quality of Life Commission" (don't laugh, it's real), which proposed giving the power to decide public holidays in largely ethnic minority areas to "local community leaders".

What else would those figures be given the power to decide in return for filling in every postal voting form in their households in the Bullingdon Boys' interest, and making sure that all their mates did likewise? To the statelets thus created – little Caliphates, little Hindutvas, little Khalistans, and so on – people minded to live in such places would flock from the ends of the earth, entrenching the situation for ever. Like Umm al-Fahm. In Israel.