Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Keren Miller on Sunday remanded until Monday the arrest of a Muslim preacher, 42, a resident Jerusalem’s Wadi Joz neighborhood, arrested last Friday for incitement.
During Friday’s already highly charged noon prayer near the Lions’ Gate, where hundreds of Muslims had gathered to protest the newly installed Israeli police metal detectors, the suspect held a sermon in which he told the worshipers, according to statements presented to the court, which constituted threats and incitement to behavior likely to disturb public safety.
According to Police, the preacher called on the children of Israeli policemen to be orphaned and their wives widowed.
“Inciting of a large number of worshipers in such sensitive days, characterized by riots and attacks on police officers, creates a pretext for danger,” the Judge wrote in her ruling Sunday.
“Indeed, according to the charge, the respondent’s behavior of the respondent, who called for the children of the policemen to become orphans and the wives of the police officers to become widows, constitutes a violation of the public order, certainly during such a sensitive period,” wrote the judge.
The detainee works in special education programs in eastern Jerusalem and is known as a religious cleric.
“Statements made by clerics which are heard by a large audience can be very dangerous and the police will use an iron fist against anyone who crosses the lines and breaks the law with his statements,” a police spokesperson’s statement said on Sunday.