Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Muslim Cleric Probed for Incitement Against Jews

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s attorney general to open an investigation into Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric, who called for killing Jews.

Mufti Mohammed Hussein, speaking last week at an event celebrating the 47th anniversary of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, cited a traditional text attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that says: “The hour of judgment will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jew will hide behind the stone and behind the tree. The stone and the tree will cry, ‘Oh Muslim, Oh Servant of God, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ “

Video of the mufti’s speech was posted on YouTube by Palestinian Media Watch; the group’s account was frozen for several days over the content. The video also shows a man introducing the mufti saying that “Our war with the descendants of the apes and pigs is a war of religion and faith. Long live Fatah!”

Netanyahu said Sunday that “These are grave words that the world needs to condemn.”

Hussein told Israel Radio Sunday that he was just quoting the religious text, not calling for the murder of Jews. No Palestinian leader has condemned his words.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.