Israeli Arabs sue Google to remove anti-Islam clip

JERUSALEM - A group of Israeli Arab officials and clerics, led by a Knesset (parliament) member, on Wednesday filed suit against Googleto pull a controversial US-made video off its YouTube video sharing site that insults the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

The petitioners, among them Knesset Member Taleb a-Sanaa, also demanded that the film, "Innocence of Muslims," be blocked from being streamed or downloaded in Israel, charging that it violated Israeli statutes against incitement to racism, defamation, and hurting the feelings of a religious group, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Google has so far cut off access to the clip in Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Libya, in the wake of several dozen deaths in the course of violent protests in close to 30 nations against the United Statesover the video. Google, however, refused a request by the White Houseto take down the clip.

Israeli Arabs held a noisy, but peaceful protest against the film in front of the US embassy in Tel Aviv last week. Palestinian Arabs also protested against the clip.