8 Arab east Jerusalem residents indicted for using Facebook to incite terrorism

Suspects praised terrorists, encouraged murder of Jews and security personnel with multiple inflammatory posts.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Incitement on Facebook page [file] (photo credit: Courtesy)
Incitement on Facebook page [file]
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Eight Arab east Jerusalem residents arrested last week on charges of using their Facebook accounts to allegedly incite terrorism were indicted by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The suspects were charged with “incitement to violence or terror” and “supporting a terrorist group” after disseminating numerous photos and videos imploring Arabs to kill Jews and Israeli security forces.
“They directly called for violence and terror against [Jewish] citizens and security forces and praised, encouraged and supported these deeds and their perpetrators,” the indictment stated.
Their arrests followed a joint, protracted undercover investigation between the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Jerusalem police and Border Police during which police seized all of the suspects’ computers and mobile devices.
In some of the photos extracted from the accounts, which police said garnered thousands of “likes,” the suspects were posing with weapons, including pistols and M-16s.
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s office worked with the attorney-general to identify the suspects through the accounts, the court said.
Last month police also arrested a male Arab resident of the Old City’s Muslim Quarter for using the Internet to incite violence.
Mahmoud Asila, 32, was apprehended on November 18 for posting photos and videos on his Facebook account calling for running over security forces and encouraging car attacks against Israelis.