Thousands of Arab Israelis marched Saturday in northern Israel to protest against the decision to ban the radical wing of the Islamic Movement, with its leader denouncing Tel Aviv. Under a sea of Palestinian flags, the descendents of Palestinians who remained in Israel after its creation in 1948 chanted "We are not terrorists" and "We are stronger than the ban". Israel banned the Islamic Movement's northern wing on November 17, accusing it of having instigated violence at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site that sparked weeks of Palestinian unrest.
At Saturday's protest in Umm al-Fahm, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Tel Aviv, its leader denounced what he called Israeli "terrorism" in an address to the crowd in Umm al-Fahm.