Antisemitic imam releived of duty by a German Islamic community

News2022.01.28. 17:39

The German Milli Görüs Islamic community releived of duty an imam in Bonn who posted a video on his Instagram page containing antisemitic comment and incitement to hatred.

In May, 2021, Imam Ensar Isik uploaded an hour-long video to Instagram about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the video, Isik accuses Israel with „genocide”, „just the way as it happened to Jews in Germany”, reports the Die Welt.

Around ten thousand people are actively involved in Milli Görüs („National View”) organisations nationwide in Germany. The far-right movement is even registered at the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, since the organisation has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood as well as the Turkish far-right.

When Imam Isik described Israel as a country, he made quotation marks with his hand. „Jews were welcomed peacefully by the Muslims in Palestine, and we are not against Jews either. […] We are against zionists”, said the imam, adding that „unfortunately”, 99.9 percent of zionists are in fact Jews.

The imam also cited the well-known Nazi motto, „Jedem das Seine” („to each his own”). Afterwards, Isik claimed that „Jews want to kill Muslims”, and raise their kids from the age four to conquer the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to „launch the end of the world”.

Bekir Altas, the secretary general of the Milli Görüs told the Die Welt that these statements are antisemitic and unacceptable. „We immediately contacted the imam and ordered him to stop spreading the video.”

The imam, who was instantly relieved of all of his duties, apologised for his sudden outburst, claiming that he regrets what he said, making reckless statements without intending to do so.

According to Eren Güvercin, the co-founder of the liberal Muslim Alhambra Society, Imam Isik’s statements cannot be regarded as an incident, but rather as the underlying problem of antisemitism within the Milli Görüs organisation.

A few weeks ago, the research of two German organisation that monitors antisemitism, the RIAS and the IIBSA, found that there are Islamic organisations behind last year’s antisemitic and anti-Israel street demonstrations and antisemitic atrocities.

 

Hungarian article: hu.euronews.com