Jerusalem wedding singer charged with inciting to terror over backing for Hamas

Mohammad Shweiki, 21, indicted for singing to crowds and posting clips to social media of his support for terror actions, including allegiance to head of Hamas military wing

Illustrative: A Hamas flag at the Temple Mount, in 2013 (photo credit: Sliman Khader/Flash90)
Illustrative: A Hamas flag at the Temple Mount, in 2013 (photo credit: Sliman Khader/Flash90)

State prosecutors charged a wedding singer from Jerusalem Tuesday with incitement to terror for songs he performed in public and video clips he posted to social media in which he allegedly showed support for terrorism, including allegiance to the military leader of the Hamas terror group.

An indictment against Mohammad Shweiki, 21, was filed at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, accusing him of incitement to terror and identifying with a terror organization, the State Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

According to court papers, Shweiki is the manager and lead singer in a group that performs at weddings and other events where he has sang inciting material in front of large crowds.

Also, on various occasions, he posted clips from performances that allegedly included inciting material to his account on video sharing network TikTok, prosecutors said.

In one video, he sang “Take up the sword, wave the sword, we are the people of Mohammed Deif,” a reference to the leader of Hamas’s military wing.

In another incident, at a wedding in Al-Ram, northeast of Jerusalem, he sang to the crowd “Ben Gvir, Alqam Khayri took your eye out,” a reference to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the Palestinian terrorist who shot dead seven people and injured three others in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem last January.

Israeli security forces and first responders at the scene of a terror attack in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Prosecutors asked that he be held until the end of proceedings.

The incidents were all before the devastating October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

In the wake of the Hamas massacres in southern Israel and amid the ongoing war with Gaza, the State Attorney’s Office has indicted dozens of Israeli citizens and residents of East Jerusalem for incitement to terrorism and identification with terror organizations, mostly for social media posts in which they praised or supported the unprecedented terror attack against Israel.

The indictments have been filed against social media users who posted pictures of the Hamas fighters who perpetrated the October 7 atrocities and described them as “heroes,” praised the massacres in different ways, called on people to participate in confrontations with Israeli security forces, and called for Hezbollah to attack Israel.

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