Israeli imam charged with inciting violence
Yusuf Albaz allegedly called for police to be killed during May's unrest in the city of Lod.
An Israeli imam was arraigned in court today in relation to communal violence between Jews and Arabs earlier this year. Some rights groups accuse Israeli authorities of disproportionately going after Arab citizens in relation to the violence.
Yusuf Albaz, from the central city of Lod, was charged on Thursday with inciting violence against police and issuing threats against Lod’s deputy mayor, Yossi Harush.
Lod was the center of much of the unprecedented communal violence between Jewish and Arab Israelis in May. The attacks followed similar tensions in Jerusalem and coincided with the war between Israel and Hamas.
The charges are based on Albaz’s Facebook posts during the unrest. He allegedly shared a movie clip showing police being killed and wrote “The best way to deal with injustice,” among other transgressions, according to The Times of Israel. Al-Monitor could not find the post, and it may have been deleted.
