Pig's head
Photo: Muhammed Askar
Shimon Ben Haim
Photo: Avi Cohen
Man sentenced for throwing pig's head in mosque
Man puts kaffiyah, writes 'Prophet Muhammad' on pig's head and throws head into Jaffa mosque; sentenced to nine months in prison
The Tel Aviv magistrate court sentenced 35 year-old Shimon Ben Haim to nine months in prison after he admitted and was convicted of hurling a pig's head into Hassan Bek mosque in Jaffa with the help his girlfriend.
Pig's head in mosque
By Ali Waked
Worshippers say previous complaints to police have been ignored, advised to install closed circuit television
Ben Haim and his girlfriend admitted to charges of religious offence.
Ben Haim and his girlfriend threw the pig's head into the mosque in August 2005, after dressing it in a kaffiyah (a traditional Arab headdress), sticking prayer beads in its mouth and writing "the Prophet Muhammad" on it.
About one week after performing the act, they planned to repeat the deed, but were arrested before they got the chance.
"Needless to say how severe the defendants' acts were," wrote Judge Daniel Beeri in the verdict; "details in the indictment point to prolonged and intentional behavior that poses real danger to the delicate relations between the two different groups in the State of Israel."
The judge also addressed the deep personal distress the defendant was under following a family crisis: "He felt anger towards the institution and wanted to express this anger and bring attention to his troubles. However, this by no means justifies the severe actions he committed."
In an expert opinion assessment that was performed on Ben Haim, it was found that he showed no remorse for offending people with his actions, and that he did not fully appreciate how serious those actions were.
In light of this assessment the court decided to sentence him to nine months of imprisonment and eleven months of probation.
The court sentenced his partner to two months of community service and six months probation.
