Imam Sentenced for Anti-Semitic Facebook Posts Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict

The justice system accuses Yassin El Himer, of Moroccan origin, of having made, on Facebook, remarks inciting hatred towards Jews and glorifying terrorism, during a period of tensions between Israel and Hamas. Although the prosecution had requested a sentence of eight months in prison, the man left free.

The facts are based on two messages posted on his Facebook page on October 12 and 16. The first quoted words attributed to the Prophet Muhammad: "You will fight the Jews and prevail over them, so that the stone will say: O Muslim, here is a Jew hidden behind me! Come and kill him."

The second publication, posted on October 16, showed a photo of the Al Quds mosque accompanied by the message: "Oh, Allah, bring us back to your religion and give us back Palestine and the Al Aqsa mosque as it was!"

In addition to the suspended prison sentence, the court imposed on the imam ineligibility and a one-year ban on exercising his function. He is also registered in the FNAIT, the national file dedicated to perpetrators of terrorist offenses. It should be recalled that this imam had been arrested at the beginning of the week, placed in police custody, then in pre-trial detention before his trial.