The Islamic Movement: accused of stoking Israel violence

The head of the radical northern wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Raed Salah, has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for inciting violence at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

 The charge dates to 2007, but Israel's government has threatened to ban the group for helping ignite a current wave of Palestinian unrest and attacks that have killed nine Israelis.

 So what is the little-known movement that is on the government's radar?

 The Islamic Movement was founded in 1970, with the goal of "establishing an Arab Islamic state in Palestine," inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, according to a 2000 report by the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think-tank.

 After several members were arrested in the early 1980s, including leader Abdallah Nimr Darwish, he decided to focus the group on spreading Islam, education and welfare programmes.

 It has become somewhat of an alternative to Israeli authorities to a neglected population, establishing schools, clinics, mosques, libraries and sports clubs, analyst Nachman Tal wrote in the INSS report.

 A split within Palestinian movements in general in the mid-1900s, when the Oslo peace accord were being drawn up, led to a fissure in the Islamic Movement.

 Darwish and the southern wing in 1996 decided to run in legislative elections, while the northern wing felt this meant recognising Israeli institutions, which they deemed unacceptable.

 Salah's wing has become more radical, calling at rallies for an Islamic caliphate in Jerusalem.

 And it is the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa compound, the third-holiest site in Islam after the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, that has been the focus of their anger.

 For the past 20 years the branch has held an annual conference under the slogan "Al-Aqsa is in danger", warning that Jews plan to destroy it to build their Third Temple in its place, which they revere as the Temple Mount.

 According to biblical tradition, the first and second Jewish temples were located at the site of the Al-Aqsa compound and destroyed by the Babylonians and the Romans.

 Clashes have often erupted at the site in recent years, over fears Israel is plotting to change rules which currently state that Muslims can pray there, and Jews can visit but are not allowed to pray.