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Palestinian men face prison sentences for Facebook posts

Facebook posts by a number of Palestinian men have been deemed inciteful to violence by the magistrate’s court in Jerusalem, amid public uproar calling the legality of the charges into question.
A Facebook logo on an Ipad is reflected among source code on the LCD screen of a computer, in this photo illustration taken in Sarajevo June 18, 2014.  Ireland's High Court on Wednesday asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to review a European Union-U.S. data protection agreement in light of allegations that Facebook shared data from EU users with the U.S. National Security Agency.   REUTERS/Dado Ruvic  (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Tags: CRIME LAW BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR3UH6G
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Jerusalemite family of Omar al-Shalabi did not expect the status updates he posted on his Facebook page to lead to his arrest by Israeli authorities. Up until the Jerusalem magistrate’s court announced its verdict, the family also believed he would be released and allowed to return home. On May 12, Shalabi was sentenced to nine months in prison.

Shalabi's brother Mohammed, who is following up on his sibling’s case with a lawyer, told Al-Monitor that the ruling was unexpected given the apparent trivialness of the acts leading to the charges against him. The family had in addition expected Shalabi to be released on bail awaiting trial. He had been arrested Dec. 14 and charged with incitement based on postings to his Facebook page. The posts followed the kidnapping and murder of a young Palestinian man, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, by extremist settlers. Israeli authorities thus feared possible retaliatory attacks against settlers.

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