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Ben-Haim being brought in for a hearing at a Tel Aviv court in August 2005. (Motti Kimche)
Last update - 00:00 06/12/2006
Man jailed for 9 months for throwing pig's head at mosque
By Nir Hasson and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Wednesday sentenced a man convicted of throwing a pig's head at a mosque to nine months in prison.

Shimon Ben-Haim was convicted of throwing the pig's head into the courtyard of Hassan Bek mosque, in Tel Aviv-Jaffa during the period of disengagement from the Gaza Strip. His girlfriend Victoria Shteiman was charged as an accessory to the crime and was sentenced to two months in jail.

In August 2005, the suspect tied a keffiyeh to a pig's head and wrote the words "Prophet Mohammed" on it. Ben-Haim also drew a crescent moon - an Islamic symbol - on each side of the keffiyeh.
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After arriving at the mosque in a taxi, Ben Haim got out and threw a bag containing the head over a fence and into the mosque's courtyard. Shortly thereafter, both Ben Haim and Shteiman made separate phone calls to Channel 10 TV to report the incident.

During the week preceding the incident, Ben Haim had placed a phone call to Jaffa's Abulafia restaurant as well as to a court of Islamic Law, telling them of his plans to throw the pig's head.

The court charged Ben Haim with religious desecration and Shteiman with accessory to the crime of religious desecration. In addition to their prison terms, an 11 month suspended sentence is under discussion for Ben Haim, and a three month suspended sentence for Shteiman.

Judge Daniel Be'eri wrote in the verdict that their acts "presented a real danger to the relations between the different groups in Israel."

Be'eri ordered Israel Prison Services to provide the two with proper security, out of concern that Muslim inmates might try to harm them.

MK Taleb a-Sana (United Arab List) criticized what he said was a light punishment, and said it displayed negligence in relation to the severity of the crime, and conceals a potential confrontation.
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  1.   A pig head in a synagogue 19:01  |  El_Justiciero 06/12/06
  2.   re #1 19:14  |  shimmy 06/12/06
  3.   Okay To Prosecute Hate Crimes! 19:37  |  Yosemite Sam 06/12/06
  4.   A Rightist? 19:40  |  Steve Kerzer 06/12/06
  5.   nonsense 19:52  |  Harry 06/12/06
  6.   To Shimmy 19:57  |  Mark B. 06/12/06
  7.   No justice, no peace 20:17  |  Asylum Aleikum 06/12/06
  8.   pig 20:27  |  richard 06/12/06
  9.   Wonder what the punishment for desecrating the Shul with swastica 21:16  |  Norman 06/12/06
  10.   Funny 22:30  |  Yehoshua Merel 06/12/06
  11.   #7:Asylum Aleikum. "No justice, no peace." 22:33  |  Rev al sharpton 06/12/06
  12.   mistake.. 22:50  |  onur from turkey 06/12/06
  13.   kassams=pig heads 22:53  |  bounce 06/12/06
  14.   9 months for it!, and 14 days to soldier who shoot palestinian! 22:58  |  its not justice 06/12/06
  15.   However! 23:56  |  Yosemite Sam 06/12/06
  16.   It`s about time 00:21  |  Hal Yes 07/12/06
  17.   #14 I agree completely! 00:46  |  Like it Is 07/12/06
  18.   Pig-headed Shimon Ben-Haim 00:58  |  Tony Anthony 07/12/06
  19.   Response to # 14 00:58  |  Robert Blum 07/12/06
  20.   Pig Heads? 01:10  |  Seems to Me 07/12/06
  21.   Toss some Real Pig Heads 01:18  |  Heave Ho! 07/12/06
  22.   Response to # 14 01:19  |  ROBERT BLUM 07/12/06
  23.   Re: Shimmy: Such justice 01:40  |  Guy From NYC 07/12/06
  24.   RESPONSE TO 3 14 02:01  |  ZVI-HERSCH B. 07/12/06
  25.   Shimmy #2 02:16  |  Wes 07/12/06
  26.   Funny... 12:13  |  El_Justiciero 07/12/06
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