Israel charges 5 Jerusalemites over social media ‘incitement’

Five Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem were indicted by an Israeli court on charges of “incitement” on social media, Israel’s Ynet reported yesterday Muhammad Mahimar, 19, from Anata, Sufian Mahmoud, 26, from Issawiya, Muhammad Samasana, 23, from Shuafat refugee camp, an unnamed 17-year-old, and another unidentified Palestinian were charged by a Jerusalem magistrate court for “calling for terror attacks to be carried out against Israel”, and for Facebook posts allegedly supporting a deadly shooting attack at Al-Aqsa Mosque on 14 July.

Following the attack, which left three Palestinian assailants and two Israeli police officers dead, Mahimar reportedly published a number of posts on Facebook, one of which Ynet translated as saying “with a rock, a knife, an axe, a Molotov Cocktail, or a lighter. Spontaneous without planning. Three martyrs came from Umm Al-Fahm. A thousand consolations are with us and we are following you. We were raised on the holy way of death.”

The teen, according to Ynet, also uploaded a picture of an Israeli policeman holding his face as paramedics tended to wounds sustained by one of his colleagues, accompanied by the caption: “Hell and darkness in the next life.”

Read: Israel ‘playing with fire’ over Jerusalem

Ynet added that Mahimar was also indicted for several posts he uploaded on Facebook in 2014 allegedly calling for “violent and terror activities against Israeli civilians and security forces”, and for praising and supporting the Hamas movement, which Israel considers a terrorist organisation.

Mahmoud and Samasana were also charged for uploading posts “calling for violence and terror against Israelis and showing solidarity with terror groups,” Ynet reported, without specifying the content of the posts.

Meanwhile, the unnamed 17-year-old reportedly posted a picture of two of the Palestinians who were killed in the shootout at Al-Aqsa with a caption saying: “A picture of two martyrs from the heroic attack that they uploaded before the attack…#smile-tomorrow-more-beautiful #martyrs-of Al-Aqsa.”

#HandsOffAlAqsa

The teenager also published a post on Facebook saying: “The martyrs are similar to the beauty of the Dome of the Rock, to the beauty of the Old City. On this holy Friday, four martyrs ascend, to prove to everyone that the intifada continues.”

The fifth Palestinian, who Ynet did not identify, was charged for posting: “Today, Palestine got four martyrs. Our dead are in heaven and their dead are burning. The martyrs of Jerusalem.”