Canadian Muslims, Harmony and Grace

"This is a bizarre strain of radical propaganda. It appears in the writings of Hamas and other groups like it and claims to debunk Jewish history. [It is] unseemly [that a religious service would propagate hate in this manner]."
"...[Calls to violence are] deeply troubling. Its presence in this mosque [Al Andalous Islamic Centre] needs to be investigated."
"We condemn these explicit calls for the death of Jews in the strongest possible terms. [W]e believe these declarations may be a violation of the Criminal Code."
“It is deeply disturbing that the leadership of Al-Andalous Islamic Centre failed to explicitly condemn repeated calls in its mosque for the destruction of Jews. Particularly unconscionable is the fact that the mosque, in full knowledge of the violent and hateful content of these sermons, allowed them to be distributed online until they were brought to the attention of the public and the police.”
Rabbi Reuben Poupko, co-chairman, Quebec branch, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

"[Jews are] people who slayed the prophets, shed their blood and cursed the Lord."
"If you examine the annals of history you will see that the Jews do not have any historical right to Palestine."
"[There was] not a single Jew in Jerusalem and Palestine [for long periods of historical time to the present]."
"O Allah, give victory to our brothers who engage in jihad for your sake in everywhere, O Lord of the worlds."
"[We look forward to] the black day you inflict on them [the Jews], kill them one by one [and] make their children orphans and their women widows."
Sheikh Wael Al Ghitawi, imam, Al Andalous Islamic Centre

"We cannot help but have the impression that this [public revelations of the Montreal mosque's sermons] is a shameful attempt to restart the polemics targeting the Muslim community after the wave of solidarity…recently observed following the terrorist attack [at the Quebec City Islamic centre]."
"If anything, the attack on the Quebec City mosque should serve as a reminder to all that there can be no ‘context’ in our democracy that legitimizes calls for violence against any identifiable group."
Al Andalous mosque response to furore over revelations of video sermons

Two video clips featuring sermons by imam Sheikh Wael Al-Ghitawi were accessible on line and not removed by the mosque until their presence was brought to the attention of the media.  In the controversy that followed their publication, the mosque authorities explained the misfortune that the imam's statements were 'taken out of context', and further stated that the imam was a 'volunteer imam', temporarily replacing the regular spiritual leader, on vacation.

How typical it is when Muslims are caught in the act of spreading hatred, they plead innocence due to grave misunderstanding, and invoke their right to live without fear of hate messages targeting the Islamic community, while feeling they can promote hatred against Jews and Christians with impunity. The prayers, after all, take place in the Arabic language, and only those who understand Arabic are privy to their content.

It should be understood, stated the mosque, that the sermon took place at a time of "the Israeli military offensive" in Gaza, condemned, they emphasized, by human rights organizations for the civilian "massacre" that took place. "When the replacing imam preached these invocations at the end of the sermon… the people present understood that the comments were addressed to Israeli soldiers guilty of abuses with regard to the Palestinian civilian population", the mosque's message clarified.

Justifying the message and leaving the puzzling impression that the "religion of peace" promotes slanderous propaganda simplifying a complex geography and history and competing interests where a legitimate state must fend off attacks by a terrorist group intent on destroying it, whose mission obviously finds enthusiastic support in Canadian mosques. Obviously unbiased and intent on pursuing the elevation of faith through brotherly love and understanding....

Sheikh Wael Al-Ghitawi was quite absorbed in his message of hatred, speaking of Jews as being descendants of "Turkish mongols" who had been "punished by Allah", who had forced them to "wander in the land", though evidently not the land of Judea since the imam went on to emphasize that Jews had no historical ties to Jerusalem or to Palestine. A scholarly historical treatise for the edification of his audience; venom purporting to be fact.

The two videos attributed to this imam followed on an earlier one posted to YouTube in August of 2014 when another imam asked Allah to "destroy the accursed Jews", and "kill them one by one". An ample illustration that these incidents of misspoken phrases represent random misunderstandings, not reflective of the mosque's message of Islamic tolerance and message of equality in the Canadian way.

Not that this Montreal mosque, named in fond memory of the Muslim conquest of Christian Spain is by any means the only mosque conspicuously preaching to the faithful in bruised purple tones of hatred against Jews and Infidels. The Masjid Toronto mosque had its own 2016 sermon speaking about the "filth of the Jews" which the Muslim Association of Canada, affiliated with the mosque, has apologized for, suspending the prayer leader and launching an internal investigation.

And so, will all of this end the prayer repeated at the conclusion of each Friday prayer session in Canadian mosques, calling on the faithful to despise the unbelievers?
“O Allah, pour patience upon Muslims, strengthen their feet and give them victory over ‘Qawm -el Kafiroon’ (Non-Muslims).
“O Allah, give victory to our brothers the Muslims, the oppressed, the tyrannized and the ‘Mujahedeen’ (those who fight jihad against non-Muslims)”.