RTThu, 11 May 2017 23:40 UTC
An Imam in Copenhagen has been reported to Danish authorities for violating hate speech laws following a sermon made in March that called for a jihad to free Muslims from 'the filth of the zionists.'
Mundhir Abdallah made the remarks at a mosque in Copenhagen as part of a sermon which included citations from the Hadith.
We have chosen to report imam Mundhir Abdallah to the police after his sermon at Masjid Al-Faruq mosque in Norrebro. We believe that it contains a thinly veiled incitement to commit murder of Jews," said Dan Rosenberg Asmussen Ritzau, chairman of the Jewish Society in Denmark, as cited by Danish TV2.
The speech is a clear violation of the Danish Penal Code which states: "Any person who, publicly or with the intention of wider dissemination, makes a statement or imparts other information by which a group of people are threatened, insulted or degraded on account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, or sexual inclination shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years."
Jorn Vestergaard, a professor of criminal caw, told TV2 that citing from scripture does not exempt a person from criminal responsibility when their intention is to both convey and endorse the message.
Inger Stojberg, the Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration and Housing condemned the speech on Facebook, writing:
"The following video is from the mosque at heimdalsgade in Copenhagen on March 31 this year, and this calls for the killing of Jews. This is completely preposterous, undemocratic and awful. But it also shows why we need to lead a harsh and consistent policy."
Under Danish hate speech laws, Abdallah faces a potential penalty of a fine or up to two years in prison if charged and convicted.
Police are looking into the matter and requests have been made to members of parliament to launch a formal investigation.
Comment: Interesting that it was MEMRI.org that released the video of Mundhir Abdallah's anti-Semitic hate speech. Also interesting that the
most vehement of Islamic extremist groups in the world (ISIS) who are operating just a stone's throw away from Israel, never attack Israel -
but apologize when ordinance gets lobbed accidentally into Israel's territory. What are we to make then of this Imam's little talk - that is all but guaranteed to cause a fuss? Maybe MEMRI does a little more than just report the news;
the following would seem to suggest this:
And then there are toxic organizations, as you know. They have been very effective in distorting the Palestinian message in reality, like MEMRI. You know, M-E-M-R-I? You should be aware of this. This is a most toxic organization. It is run by Yigal Carmon, who used to be the adviser to the military governors, and he became the adviser to Shamir on terrorism and so on. And he used to interrogate me once in a while. But now, he has this organization with tremendous funds. He monitors everything and then he has access to Congress, particularly to many decision makers. He distorts Palestinian utterance and anything that is published. We can talk about this later. You have MEMRI, you have NGO Monitor that attempts to bad-mouth all Palestinian NGOs. You have the PM Watch [Palestinian Media Watch], which is also waiting for any Palestinian to open his or her mouth and they attack.
Update (May 16): Abdallah claims he's the victim of propaganda aimed at quashing his criticism of Israel:
"Politicians in the West and the media never stop attacking Islam and Muslims," imam Mundhir Abdallah told Kristeligt Dagblad in a Facebook interview.
"Their propaganda never stops. Muslims are the real victims, not others. Our women our being attacked, our mosques are being burned."
According to a translation of Mundhir Abdallah's speech, the imam quoted a Hadith (sacred text of the words and stories of the Prophet Mohammed) saying Judgement Day would not come "until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them."
"The Jews will hide behind rocks and the trees. But the rocks and the trees will say, 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him," he said.
The translation came from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) TV Monitor Project, an-American based group headed by a former member of Israeli intelligence which provides translations of Arab and Muslim media.
The group has been accused of selectively choosing its translations to push an Israeli agenda and paint Muslims in a negative light.
The imam said he has received support after the scandal broke, although his speech invited condemnation from Danish politicians and Muslims.
"I've got wide and warm support from people from everywhere. Even many in Denmark. They know that my words have been manipulated, and they know that the motivation for this campaign is to prevent Muslims from criticizing Israel and Western governments that support the occupation [of Palestine]."
The imam lives in Lebanon but has family in Denmark. He said he isn't afraid of being put on Denmark's new list of banned hate preachers.
"See how your democracy works," he continued. "In punishing others because of their beliefs and political opinions, this legislation only proves the weakness of your democracy. People who are different, can not live in it," said Abdallah.
"So you have two options. Either you are totally integrated, or else you will be killed 'in prison or sent back to where you come from. And even there you are not safe," he added.
So was the translation accurate or not? MEMRI is problematic, to say the least. So is mixing anti-Zionism with religious fundamentalism. The imam says "Muslims are the real victims." Correction: Muslims are victims. So are non-Muslims. No group has a monopoly on victimhood. The same can be said for being pure evil. Whether Jew, Muslim, Christian or whatever other religious or cultural identity you want, the capacity for cognitive error and immorality is distributed fairly evenly among groups. Zionism and radical Islam are two sides of the same coin.
Comment: Interesting that it was MEMRI.org that released the video of Mundhir Abdallah's anti-Semitic hate speech. Also interesting that the most vehement of Islamic extremist groups in the world (ISIS) who are operating just a stone's throw away from Israel, never attack Israel - but apologize when ordinance gets lobbed accidentally into Israel's territory. What are we to make then of this Imam's little talk - that is all but guaranteed to cause a fuss? Maybe MEMRI does a little more than just report the news; the following would seem to suggest this: Update (May 16): Abdallah claims he's the victim of propaganda aimed at quashing his criticism of Israel: So was the translation accurate or not? MEMRI is problematic, to say the least. So is mixing anti-Zionism with religious fundamentalism. The imam says "Muslims are the real victims." Correction: Muslims are victims. So are non-Muslims. No group has a monopoly on victimhood. The same can be said for being pure evil. Whether Jew, Muslim, Christian or whatever other religious or cultural identity you want, the capacity for cognitive error and immorality is distributed fairly evenly among groups. Zionism and radical Islam are two sides of the same coin.