Islamic State paraphernalia that was found at the home of Israeli Arab teacher Mahmoud Mehamid. Photo: Israel Police.

JNS.org – An Israeli Arab high school teacher was arrested Monday on suspicion of supporting the Islamic State terror organization after a search of his Umm al-Fahm home revealed Islamic State flags and jihadist propaganda materials.

Twenty-four-year-old Mahmoud Mehamid teaches a class on Islam at Atid High School in Kafr Qara. The Hadera Magistrates’ Court remanded him in custody until Wednesday. Local Police Superintendent Shimon Ben-Shabo said the suspect had returned from a trip to Jordan, where he said he got the Islamic State materials, including a flag, scarves, and books.

“A search of the suspect’s house revealed the flag and laptop computers,” Ben-Shabo said, according to Israel Hayom. “He admitted that he had traveled to Jordan for his studies and claimed that the seized items were for his work.”

One of Mehamid’s relatives said that he is the cousin of a young man from Nazareth who left Israel to train with Islamic State in Syria. “This is a young man with no criminal past who recently became very connected to his religion, but not in a jihadist way, just in a religious way,” the relative said.