Succumbing to pro-Israeli lobby?
Detained leading Arab-Israeli scholar Sheikh Raed Salah accuses British authorities of pandering to pro-Israeli groups.
Authorities in Britain have launched an investigation after a leading Arab-Israeli scholar entered the country despite being banned.
A lawyer for Sheikh Raed Salah said his client had no idea he was under a travel ban, and did not try to hide his identity.
Salah was due to address a meeting of members of the British parliament on Wednesday evening, organised by Labor Party MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Burden together with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He is now in custody awaiting deportation from the UK.
Is there a legal reason for the arrest? Or are British authorities simply reacting to pressure from Pro-Israeli groups?
Inside Story, with presenter Folly Bah Thibault, discusses with guests Farooq Bajwa, the lawyer for Salah; Ian Black, the Middle East editor of the Guardian newspaper; and Charlie Wolf, a Conservative political commentator and columnist for the Jewish News.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, June 30, 2011.