On Monday, January 5, 2024, the Nazareth Magistrate Court began hearings for the defense witnesses in the trial of Sheikh Kamal Khatib, who was arrested during the 2021 May Uprising and charged with “incitement to violence.”
Sheikh Kamal Khatib is represented in this case by Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Mizan Human Rights Center. At the beginning of his testimony, Sheikh Khatib rejected the indictment, stating: “I reject the indictment and do not accept it. I consider it a political prosecution aimed at restricting my role and actions in society.” He added, “My role in combating crime and violence was part of the significant work done by the Higher Follow-up Committee, under which I operate. My positions align with it, so I reject the charge of incitement to violence, as it is false and contradicts my life’s approach. I have never called for violence, either in action or in words, and as I have said for the past 40 years, no indictment has ever been filed against me.”
Regarding the posts on his Facebook page that were used as evidence in the case, Sheikh Khatib clarified: “Since 2014, I have had a personal page on Facebook, where I posted more than 1,500 times, and not only the three posts I have been accused of.”
He continued: “From 1984 to 2015, I was a member of the Islamic Movement, and since its banning, I have not joined any other organization. The strange thing is that during the 37 days I was in detention, I was never asked a single question about my affiliation with any organization.” This was in reference to accusations of his alleged membership in a banned organization.
In response, Attorney Hassan Jabarin, Director of Adalah, confirmed that through Sheikh Kamal Khatib’s testimony, it became clear that the central issue in his trial is the significance of Al-Aqsa Mosque to Arabs and Muslims. Jabarin explained that in the posts for which Khatib is being charged, he was calling for people to be present and engaged in prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, adding: “Our central defense argument is that the call for resistance made by Khatib was for people to pray and stay in the mosque, contrary to the prosecution’s view that it was an incitement to violence.”
Jabarin further stated that this case is inherently political and relates to religious belief. “What is being tried is not Khatib himself, but the Quran and the prophetic traditions,” he said. He pointed out that many of the indictments filed against Arab youth in recent years have been based on a similar premise: the trial of the Quran and Sunnah. “This is a new phase that has never occurred before,” Jabarin added.
Additionally, the Nazareth Magistrate Court continued listening to Sheikh Kamal Khatib’s testimony on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. The next session in the trial is scheduled for Monday, February 12, 2024, where the Israeli prosecution will conduct cross-examination of Sheikh Khatib.
This case highlights a broader trend in Israeli judicial policy, seen as part of a larger wave of targeting Palestinian political and social activists, within the ongoing political and ethnic tensions in the country.
