Israel Attorney General to investigate Jerusalem mufti for incitement
Move comes weeks after Mufti Mohammed Hussein quoted a religious text that includes passages about killing Jews during a speech at the anniversary celebration of the Fatah movement.
By Tomer Zarchin and The Associated Press Tags: Jerusalem Benjamin Netanyahu FatahAttorney General Yehuda Weinstein instructed Israel Police on Tuesday to open a criminal investigation against a top Muslim cleric for incitement to violence and racism.
Weinstein’s request came a few weeks after Jerusalem’s Mufti Mohammed Hussein quoted a religious text that includes passages about killing Jews during a speech at the 47th anniversary celebration of the Fatah movement in East Jerusalem.
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The Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, at a press conference in Ramallah in 2006. |
| Photo by: AP |
Weinstein stated that the investigation will also look into other statements the mufti has made about Jews in the past.
Excerpts from the cleric's speech were posted on YouTube last week by Palestine Media Watch, an Israeli watchdog group that tracks incitement. The comments drew angry reactions from Israelis Sunday.
"The hour of resurrection will not come until you fight the Jews," Hussein told the gathering, citing a hadith, or saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. "The Jews will hide behind stones and trees. But the trees and the stones will call: Oh Muslim, oh servant of God, there is a Jew hiding behind me, so come and kill him."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Mufti’s speech, calling it a "heinous offense that all nations of the world must condemn.”
Hussein, who is based in Jerusalem, said his comments were taken out of context. "I was speaking about the final signs of the day of resurrection," Hussein said. "I did not incite, and I did not call for killing. We are not, at present, at the end of days."
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good....these mufti's of Jerusalem need to be taught a lesson..they incite violence with their hatred and are the cause of much hatred directed at Jews. No other people..no other religions would stand by and let a fool like this blabber on without consequence. This man,,,this non entity gives us a picture into what Jerusalem would be like under the hands of terrorists....go ahead obama..stand up for him...I dare you.
The Mufti's comments are religious extremism. They have no place in civil society and should not be tolerated. Tell the Mufti 1400 years have passed. It is time to put away his sharp tongue and find a path toward peace, tolerance, cooperation, equality and understanding. The world has suffered from far too much war driven by religious ideologues.
The guy is a liar. One can see the tape on mmemritv.com
The Hadith the Mufti quoted was correct, BUT, taken out of context: Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The Jews will fight against you and you will gain victory over them until the stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; kill him. (Book #041, Hadith #6984) Sahih Muslim. Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him." (Book #52, Hadith #177) Sahih Al-Bukhari.
And while he is at it, open an investigation against dear Rabbi Ovadia as well .. seems he made some comparable comments in the past as well.
And the man who advocated the killing of the US President, a Jew, resigns from his newspaper and is walking free. Hypocrites.
Islamic spiritual & historical revisionism runs into a Jerusalem stone wall when trying to exert itself 1000 miles from home in the birthplace of Judaism.
Freedom of speech under the terrible 'occupation' no??? Can't wait to hear what perverted logic your minds will bring up this time...
"The Hour [of Resurrection] will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jew will hide behind stones or trees. Then the stones or trees will call: 'Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"/ This Hadith considers the "end of days". Presumably, by then the world will become Muslim and the remainder (or only the remaining Jews) will be killed. Compare it to Christian Armaggedon, where most of the Jews will be killed in that war and the remainder will convert to Christianity. Is it a better fate? Or how about the Jewish end of days, where all the nations will accept the supremacy of the Jews. (Note that the Rabbis will not allow them to convert to Judaism, so they will remain second class.)/ It is impossible to remove such writings from scripture. Monotheism believes in the supremacy of a single god, also known as "my God" (depending on the believer). The way to cope with this is by "interpretation". The will to interpret depends on the situation on the ground, and this is what people need to work on, not on the other side's scripture.
10 years hard labour. he deserves that.
If we are not at the end of days, we should conclude that when that momento arrives, it will be mandatory to kill us all. Looks as incitement to me, be et for now or for the end of days. But who cares? Who needs to ascertain that this guy said so now? We knoe perfectly well that there is a sizeable number of radical Muslim clerics who really want to kill us or drive us into the Iam Hatijon...
he should really know better, aren't clerics supposed to be wise?