MK Zvi Sukkot, chairman of the Knesset Education Committee and the Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs, made a surprise visit today (Wednesday) to “The Message Café” operating in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The visit followed Channel 14’s exposé in the investigative series “Ashraf Marwan, Pseudonym,” based on reporting by HaKol HaYehudi (The Jewish Voice), which examined the activities of the Dar al-Salam center. According to the reports, the location in Bab Hutta operates not only as a café but also as a center for spreading “dawah,” or Islamic outreach, and distributing translated Quran booklets to visitors.
According to HaKol HaYehudi‘s investigation, the Lavi organization filed a series of complaints with authorities against Dar al-Salam and its operatives following the series’ broadcast, including complaints regarding the Bab Hutta center. The report claimed the location opened under the name “The Message Café” and that authorities received evidence suggesting it’s a preaching center allegedly built with financing from terror-linked entities. One figure mentioned in the report, Ramzi Barhoum, denied to HaKol HaYehudi that it’s an Islamic preaching center.
The affair also involves the Lajnat Zakat al-Quds al-Markaziya association, which according to previous reports was dissolved by decision of the Jerusalem District Court following proceedings led by the Registrar of Associations. According to reports, the decision came after an indictment revealed the association was established by Hamas operatives and distributed funds to families of Hamas activists and shahids (martyrs), among others. Guidestar records show the association received a dissolution order from the court.
During his visit, Sukkot told the tenants that “the days when you could spread incitement are over” and announced he would work to advance the location’s closure. According to him, the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police already advanced proceedings to close the location, but the move has been delayed due to legal factors. Sukkot directed his demand to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, calling on her to allow completion of the process.
“It’s simply unbelievable that in the center of sovereign Jerusalem, a center operates on behalf of a Hamas subsidiary movement whose purpose is to spread the dawah teachings of Islam in the area,” Sukkot said. “This was published on Channel 14 following an investigation by HaKol HaYehudi, and the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police even issued a closure order for the location, but shamefully the place is still open due to legal delays.”
Sukkot added: “I’m sending a sharp and clear demand from here to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara: The time has come to close this place. We cannot continue to drag this out and leave open this incitement center sheltered under Hamas, which carried out the most horrific massacre in the history of the State of Israel.”
The exposé was first published on Channel 14 as part of the series “Ashraf Marwan, Pseudonym,” a film by Avraham Shapira supported by the Samaria Film Fund, based on HaKol HaYehudi‘s investigation into Dar al-Salam’s activities in Israel.