E. Jerusalem man jailed for urging attacks on Israelis

Muhammad Abd al-Latif, 24, told Facebook followers to ‘kill them, death to the settlers’ after a November 2014 terror attack

By ToI Staff 28 January 2016, 7:02 am

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Israeli police outside the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue in Jerusalem after a terror attack there on November 18, 2014. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindler/FLASH90)

A Jerusalem court sentenced an East Jerusalem man to a year in prison Wednesday for publishing a post on Facebook calling for attacks against Israelis.

Mohammad Abd al-Latif, 24, was found guilty of incitement to violence for posting a comment following a deadly November 2014 terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, saying: “A great morning thanks to knives” and “Kill them, death to the settlers.”

Armed with knives, axes and a gun, two East Jerusalem residents had attacked worshipers at the synagogue, in the city’s Har Nof neighborhood, killing five, including a police officer, and injuring seven others. They were shot dead at the scene.

In the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court’s ruling, the judge said Abd al-Latif’s posts “substantively endanger every single aspect of society.”

“When the seed of incitement is sown, it’s impossible to know when an act of terror will sprout from it,” the decision said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently blamed Palestinian incitement for the past four months of unrelenting attacks targeting Israeli civilians, soldiers and police officers.