East Jerusalem residents charged for praising Temple Mount killers

Five East Jerusalem residents were charged with incitement to terror Monday over Facebook messages they posted following a July 14 attack in Jerusalem’s Old City in which two policemen were killed.

According to the indictments the five took to Facebook to praise the attack, in which three men from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm shot and killed two Israeli policemen using weapons they had smuggled onto the Temple Mount, and called for further attacks against civilians and security forces.

The five, including a minor, were indicted by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office and the prosecution requested they be denied bail.

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Muhammad Mukhiemer, 19, from Anata, was charged in September 2014 with inciting violence and terror attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces. He was also accused of praising terror organizations, including Hamas.

After the attack on the Temple Mount he praised the terrorists on Facebook: “They thought that the heroes were ancient, but still they live. They humiliated them in the alleys, the entrances and at the gates,” he wrote.

He ended his post with the hashtag, “Friday of the martyrs.”

Three Arab Israelis named by the Shin Bet as responsible for shooting dead two Israeli police officers next to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on July 14, 2017: Muhammad Ahmed Muhammad Jabarin, 29; Muhammad Hamad Abdel Latif Jabarin, 19 and Muhammad Ahmed Mafdal Jabarin, 19. (Channel 2 composite screenshot)

Seyf Abu Juma’a, 21 from A-Tur, was charged with posting support for the terror attack and encouragement for further attacks. In a post a few hours after the attack he wrote, “With rocks, with knives, with axes, with Molotov cocktails and lighters… Three martyrs left Umm al-Fahm … and we will follow in their footsteps. We were raised for a holy death.”

Sufyan Mahmoud, 26, from Issawiya and Mohammed Shamasana, 23, from the Shuafat refugee camp were charged with calling for violence and terror against civilians and security forces in a number of Facebook posts, as well as with praising and supporting terror organizations

A 17-year-old minor was charged with praising and supporting terror organizations on the day of the attack. Since he is a minor, his name and the full details of charges against him were not publicized.

Master Sgt. Kamil Shnaan, left, and Master Sgt. Haiel Sitawe, right, the police officers killed in the terror attack next to the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem on July 14, 2017. (Israel Police)

Israeli officials have identified social media posts praising violence as a major driver of attacks, and have sought to crack down on incitement posted online.

Last week the mother of a Palestinian teen who stabbed to death three residents of the Halamish settlement during a terror attack was arrested and charged with incitement over a video posted online in which she praised her son.

The Temple Mount attack had led Israel to install new security measures at the holy site, sparking almost two weeks of unrest from East Jerusalem and West Bank Palestinians who protested the changes.

Israel on Thursday rolled back the security measures in a bid to calm tensions under intense pressure from the Arab world and international community.