Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 14:26 On the morning of Wednesday, November 4 the Israeli Police detained Sheikh Khaled Al-Mughrabi, following his continued sermons on the Temple Mount inciting to injure Jews. This detention comes after two complaints filed by Honenu and a petition sent both to the Jerusalem District Attorney and to the Attorney General.
In June 2015 Honenu filed a complaint with the Israeli Police, demanding that they investigate and try Al-Mughrabi for his sermons on the Temple Mount inciting to injure Jews. The police received authorization from the Attorney General’s office to open an investigation. Sheikh Al-Mughrabi was interrogated several times, but was released each time. In mid-August 2015, two months after the complaint was filed, the police informed Honenu that the case had been transferred to the Attorney General’s office for the purpose of examining the evidence and determining whether or not to bring Al-Mughrabi to trial. The police recommended that Al-Mughrabi be brought to trial for incitement based on the content of the sermons he gave on the Temple Mount. The police also informed Honenu that evidence against Al-Mughrabi was being gathered to form the basis of an incitement case.
However, despite this investigation, the Attorney General’s office has refrained from filing an indictment against him, and his sermons which incite to injure Jews, have continued completely unhindered. The Palestine Media Watch organization has publicized numerous video clips of Al-Mughrabi’s sermons.
Due to Al-Mugrabi’s continued incitement, Honenu filed an additional complaint on October 27 with the Merchav David (Old City) Police in Jerusalem and also sent a petition to the Jerusalem District Attorney and the Attorney General demanding that an indictment be filed as soon as possible.
Among the sermons (see example here) which the “Palestinian Media Watch” organization has publicized, the following is an excerpt from a sermon given by Sheikh al-Mughrabi in mid-October 2015 in which he defamed, insulted and incited to injure Jews:
“The Sons of Israel will be forced to change their plans to build the Temple inside the building of the El-Aqsa Mosque, and will be forced to build it outside of the El-Aqsa Mosque,” declared Sheikh Al-Mughrabi, who sermonizes twice a week on the Temple Mount. “[It is] the Temple of heresy in which they worship Iblis [Satan]. Why? Because the false Messiah will not appear, unless the Temple is built and they worship in it Satan… [During the End of Days] we will go after the Jews everywhere. They will not escape from us. They will not be able to escape from us. And the rock and the tree will speak, according to the Hadith (tradition) of the prophet [Mohamed]… This is a reliable promise from the Prophet, according to which the tree and the rock will speak and will say: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ The Sons of Israel will be destroyed, all of them, the false Messiah will be killed, and the Muslims will live in comfort for a long time.”
Honenu welcomes the detention and says that this is a test for the police and the Attorney General’s office: “We are pleased that finally the inciting sheikh has been detained and we hope that this time a severe indictment is filed against him immediately and that he is given a lengthy prison sentence. We cannot tolerate a situation in which a Jewish youth who dares to pray on the Temple Mount is immediately detained and banned from the Temple Mount, while Muslim leaders on the Temple Mount freely and openly incite to injure Jews.”
On the same morning that Al-Mughrabi was detained a Jewish youth exiting the Temple Mount was detained after tearing his shirt as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. Honenu Attorney Rehavia Piltz arrived at the police station to assist the youth.