Earlier this month, The Regavim Movement filed an official complaint against a Lod religious figure, Imam Youssef Albaz, including detailed documentation of his inflammatory, racist pronouncements and explicit calls to his followers to commit acts of terrorism and violence. Last night, Albaz was taken into custody by the Israel Police. The arrest was welcomed by Meir Deutsch, Regavim’s Director General, in a statement released early this morning:
“The Regavim Movement applauds the initiation of law enforcement procedures against Youssef Albaz and demands that he be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The horrific violence to which the Jewish residents of Lod were subjected was fueled by the poisonous, antisemitic hate speech spewed by Imam Albaz, a member of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement. Albaz’s incitement resulted in spilled blood – the lynching murder of Yigal Yehoshua, dozens of wounded citizens and massive damage to private and public property. The time has come to make Albaz pay the price for his incitement. Better late than never.