The founder of a radical Islamic website that praised figures like Osama bin Laden and Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for using the site to threaten Jewish groups.
Yousef al-Khattab, 45, of Atlantic City, N.J., who converted from Judaism, started the Revolution Muslim website in 2007.
Al-Khattab admitted posting articles encouraging readers to take unspecified action against Jewish leaders and publishing names and addresses of Jewish leaders and synagogues.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virgina, “al-Khattab posted a video on 2009 urging viewers to seek out leaders of Jewish Federation chapters in the U.S. and ‘deal with them directly at their homes.’ Al-Khattab gave the names and addresses of synagogues in New York and another Jewish organization in Brooklyn.
“On January 20, 2009, Al-Khattab posted a video and photo of the headquarters of the Jewish organization in Brooklyn with a map and directions to specific facilities. Al-Khattab also posted a link to ‘The Anarchist Cookbook,’ which is a manual for (among other things) constructing and using explosive devices. On January 23, 2009, Al-Khattab posted to the Revolution Muslim website a video accusing the Jewish organization of funding terrorism and urging viewers to find the leaders of Jewish organizations and ‘hold them responsible.'”
There is, however, one thing with which I agree with this hateful individual.
In an interview for NPR released Thursday, al-Khattab expressed regret for his actions, saying: “What I did was stupid and it was wrong and I am paying the price for that now, period.
“I thought we had stayed on the right side of the line with regard to free speech,” he said. “But it appears we went over it, we went too far, and, I’ll say it, we were wrong.”
—-
“This was stupidity and this is what happens when you hang out with the wrong people,” he said. “So it is my fault. I know when I go to jail, they will be, ‘Allah, Allah, he’s a mujahadid.’ I am not a mujahadid. I am a failure.”
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media