Israeli Court Won’t Block Anti-Islam Film
A Jerusalem court denied a request by Arab-Israeli politicians and religious leaders seeking to remove an anti-Muslim movie from YouTube and block all Israeli access to it.
The request to the Jerusalem District Court to issue an injunction against Google to block access to “Innocence of Muslims,” which insults the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, was filed Wednesday, The Jerusalem Post reported. Google owns YouTube.
The court ordered a full hearing for Oct. 15 on the request, but declined to block access to the movie and its trailer until the hearing, according to the newspaper.
The lawsuit said that access to the movie is incitement to racism against Muslims, which violates Israel’s Penal Code, among other charges.
Access to the video has been blocked in several Muslim countries. A 14-minute trailer of the movie dubbed in Arabic has sparked riots throughout the Arab world and in Arab communities in other countries. The backlash led to the killing of four American diplomats in Libya.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
