by Nadav Shragai
This is mainly the defense of democracy against the freedom to incite that is liable to lead to bloodshed and the loss of human life in the future.
Raed Salah, the leader
of the Islamic Movement's outlawed Northern Branch, refers to himself as
the Al-Aqsa sheikh, sailed on the Gaza blockade-busting Turkish ship
Mavi Marmara, and for years has spoken of his vision for a global
caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital. He is also the same man who for
years has disseminated the false warning that "Al-Aqsa is in danger."
His latest arrest, one
of dozens, presents a legal question: Has this false suggestion that
Israel is somehow planning to destroy Al-Aqsa mosque shifted from being
an abstract claim to being an actual weapon, considering that it has
motivated vehicular rammers, stabbers, shooters and murderers in recent
years?
In practice, the answer
is clear: This libel does indeed kill. Quite literally. Hundreds of
attacks in recent years were motivated by this falsehood.
It is enough to
consider the indictments issued against the attackers, as well as their
own statements and Facebook pages, to understand that this libel --
rooted in the days of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini -- has
gone beyond the point of just venomous propaganda. It has been turned
into an actual weapon, the equivalent of a suicide bomber, a Qassam
rocket or a gun. Those who repeat this libel over and over are akin to
an attacker who pulls the pin of a grenade or starts a timer on a bomb.
The most serious aspect
of this problem is that this claim, directed at the Israeli government,
is entirely unfounded. In fact, even those who endlessly repeat it
don't always believe the things they themselves are saying.
The only instance when a
state commission of inquiry investigated Salah and his libel in depth
was after the events of October 2000 (when unrest on the Temple Mount
spiraled into the Second Intifada), in which 12 Israeli Arabs were
killed. The Or Commission, a state-appointed panel, investigated the
events.
We should remember the
findings of the committee members, then-Supreme Court Justice Theodore
Or, Hashem Khatib and Professor Shimon Shamir:
"It is implausible that
Salah in fact believed that the government planned to destroy the
mosques and build a temple in their place, as he claimed. There is no
escaping the conclusion that his statements on the matter were aimed at
gaining political capital, to recruit supporters and hone the struggle.
"His calls to liberate
Al-Aqsa through blood, especially as expressed in the mass festivals of
rage he organized, served to escalate the tense atmosphere in the Arab
sector on the eve of the October events."
Since then, Salah has
continued to make inflammatory remarks. He has paid for some of these
remarks with time in prison, but it is very unlikely that he has changed
his ways.
The attempt to keep him behind bars is a legitimate attempt to protect the public from what amounts to a ticking time bomb.
This is not an
infringement on his freedom of religion nor is it a violation of the
tenets of democracy or freedom of speech. This is mainly the defense of
democracy against the freedom to incite that is liable to lead to
bloodshed and the loss of human life in the future.
Nadav Shragai
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19689
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1 comment:
The same libel is also repeated by Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah.
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