The Nazareth Magistrate's Court on Tuesday handed down a sentence of three years to the imam of a city mosque for incitement to violence and terrorism and supporting a terror organization.
The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment against Nazem Abu Salim in 2010, charging that the imam founded a Salafist-jihadist group, Ansar Allah Bait Almakdas- Alnasira (Supporters of God Jerusalem-Nazareth). The group’s ideology was alleged to be identical to that of al-Qaida and its global jihad movement – and Abu Salim was accused of preaching and distributing literature about it to his congregants. He was convicted in April.
Judge Lili Jung- Goffer wrote in the sentence, "This case before me seems to be one of the worst of it's kind which has been ruled on by a court in Israel. The accused worked his way deep into an audience with the potential to absorb a dangerous world view. The acts were carried out over a long period time, in a deep and thorough manner, and eventually, brought about results that caused harm to human life. Therefore, they cannot be looked upon solely as verbal expressions."
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