Itongadol.- Israeli Arabs that went to fight with Syrian opposition are for the most part fighting with other groups, says community leader.
Israel officially outlawed the Islamic State earlier this month and in numerous conversations with The Jerusalem Post, Israeli-Arabs overwhelmingly rejected the notion that any more than a few individuals support the terrorist group.
Over the last few weeks, the Israeli media has reported about Israeli Arab individuals who have left to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and about the appearance of the group’s flag in public, but there appears to be no phenomenon within Arab society supporting the al-Qaida offshoot.
Jafar Farah, the director of the Mossawa Center – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, told the Post in an interview on Monday that “Israeli Arabs are against the Islamic State” and that Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch in Israel, spoke out against the group.
“The Israeli media is looking for an enemy where there isn’t one,” and is “telling lies” on this issue, he said, adding that all Israeli-Arab parties oppose the group.