An Australian preacher’s anti-Semitic rant has made waves this week, after footage surfaced of him Thursday calling Jews “the most evil creatures of Allah.”
Ismail Al-Wahwah, spokesman for the Australian chapter of the Islamist extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, gave the offending sermon on the first Friday in March. His remarks were translated by the Middle Eastern Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“Recognizing the Jews and giving them even a single inch of Palestine constitutes the epitome of evil, because this will strengthen that cancerous entity,” he claimed in the speech. “They are the most evil creatures of Allah, [who said] ‘You shall find the strongest people in enmity towards the believers to the Jews and the polytheists.'”
“Refraining from fighting them constitutes widespread evil,” he continued. “It will enable them to kill Muslims and take over their countries, in order to spread corruption upon the land, and to capture and kill women and men. All forms of corruption are linked to the Israelites and their arrogance.”
He then descended into a further anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
“Past, present, and future – since their inception, the Israelites have gone hand in hand with evil and disobedience,” he said. “A Jew does not prevent another from wrongdoing. If [a Jew] criticizes another in the media, it is only to pull the wool over one’s eyes. The Jews are in alliance and in concert with one another.”
“Some superficial Muslims tell you about some Jew who demonstrated against the corruption,” he added. “As long he is in Palestine, that Jew is an aggressor like any criminal. His very presence in Palestine constitutes an aggression, because he is an occupier, no matter who he is.”
Al-Wahwah then blamed the Jews for the entire world’s problems.
“We must not be deceived by this,” he urged. “The Jews are the most evil creatures of Allah.”
“Moral corruption is linked to the Jews,” he continued. “Prostitution in the world began with the Israelites. Usury and gambling began with the Israelites.”
“If the Jews were given the whole world, they would want the heavens,” he opined. “That is the nature of the Jews.”
Peace is not an option, he insisted.
“It is a delusion to think that there can be peace and coexistence with the Israelites, with the Jews,” he said. “It is a delusion to think that we can share one state or two states, and that the Jews can be our neighbors, as suggested by some self-proclaimed, yet deluded, ‘scholars.'”
“One such [‘scholar’] claims that fighting neighbors is forbidden,” he continued. “He is one of them. Therefore, coexistence with Israel and the Jews is a delusion. There is only one solution for that cancerous tumor: It must be uprooted and thrown back to where it came from.”
He concluded with the age-old strategy of threats of violence.
“Whatever the outcome is of today’s battle, it is not the final battle,” he concluded. “There is a sea of blood between the Jews and us. They will pay with blood for blood, with tears for tears, and with destruction for destruction. They are deluding themselves if they think that this nation will ever surrender to a gang of foreigners.”
The New South Wales (NSW) branch of the Jewish Board of Deputies (JBOD) filed a complaint with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board against the extremist group last week, according to the Daily Mail, after the preacher called Jews a “hidden evil” at a rally last year.
The group has responded to backlash by telling local media that the comments were “legitimate” commentary on “Palestine” and on the Gaza war.
