MK Taleb a-Sanaa (United Arab List-Ta’al) and Arab-Israeli mayors and religious
leaders filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday,
demanding that Google take down a YouTube video ridiculing the prophet Muhammad,
prevent future publicizing of the film and block all access to the film in
Israel.
The petitioners characterized the film as abusing freedom of
speech, saying it violated the image of the prophet in a racist manner while
trampling his sanctity and desecrating his name.
Among other things, the
petition notes that the video characterizes Muhammad as a pedophile who
encouraged his followers to have sexual relations with minors.
The film
is also highly damaging, as it violates the dignity and faith of more than a
billion Muslims and more than a million Muslim citizens in Israel, the petition
states.
According to the petitioners, the publication constitutes
incitement to racism against Muslims in violation of Article 144 of the
country’s Penal Code, violates the religious feelings of Muslims in
contravention of the code’s Article 173, and is defamatory according to the 1965
Defamation Law.
Attorney Kais Nasser filed the petition against Google
since Google owns YouTube.
News reports have indicated that Google has
already blocked the video in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia and India.
The
petitioners argued that freedom of speech should not be abused to permit
“serious injury to the religious feelings of others.”
They added that
“protection from harm to the sensitivities of the public is a natural need” and
is just as important as protection “against physical and economic harm...
sometimes [it] is even more important.”
According to the petition,
Israeli law prohibits not only attacking the state flag, but also attacking
religious symbols.
As such, “damage to the state flag or a religious
symbol may not only cause deep emotional harm, but also lead to incitement and
violence,” it said.
Citing a 2006 High Court of Justice decision, the
petition says that where injury to public sensitivities is so grave and so
profound that it could lead to violations of public order, there may be
justification for limiting freedom of expression.
The video in question
is offensive to the point that it falls into this category, say the petitioners,
and it should be blocked to prevent incitement, violence and public
disturbances.
The petition also cited High Court precedents discussing
how freedom of expression in Israel is more limited than in some Western
nations, such as the United States. Whereas the US permits flag-burning – and as
a derivative of that principle, also burning religious symbols – Israel does
not, said the petition.
A recent High Court ruling mentioned the recent
burning of a Koran in the US as an instance of permissible expression there. In
contrast, such burning is not permitted in Israel, said the petitioners. In
fact, the Koran-burning example, under the High Court decision, would justify
the point of view that such acts could lead to violence and even death in Israel
and other countries.
By later Wednesday, in recognition of the serious
nature of the petition, the court had scheduled an expedited hearing for
Thursday afternoon.
In response, a YouTube spokesperson said, “We work
hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to
express different opinions. This can be a challenge because what’s okay in one
country can be offensive elsewhere. This video – which is widely available on
the Web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. However,
we’ve restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal, such as India
and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive
situations in these two countries. This approach is entirely consistent with
principles we first laid out in 2007.”
Gil Hoffman contributed to this
report.