Adil Charkaoui defended himself on Wednesday for calling for hatred and violence against Jews during a demonstration held in Montreal last week. It was in fact a call to God and he never uttered the word “Jew”, he explained in a video broadcast live on a social network.
” It’s true. I called out to God, I prayed to God. I have the right to do so as an imam, as a Muslim so that Gaza is rid of its aggressors,” the controversial figure said in a video where it was impossible to ask him any questions.
On October 31, Adil Charkaoui spoke at a pro-Palestinian demonstration held near Place-des-Arts. “Allah, take care of these Zionist aggressors. Allah, take care of the enemies of the people of Gaza. Allah, identify them all, then exterminate them. And don’t spare any of them! “, he implored into the microphone, eliciting “amens” from the crowd.
There was no word “Jew” uttered either in my speech or in my prayer.
Adil Charkaoui
Prime Minister François Legault did not hesitate to describe the imam’s comments as incitement to hatred and violence on Wednesday. “I count on the police to do their job. […] It’s not me telling them how to do their job, but inciting violence is not allowed,” he said in a press scrum.
Defamation suit
In his video posted on Facebook, Adil Charkaoui indicated that he intends to sue the Center for Israeli and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) for defamation, because the organization relayed the video of the prayer and declared that the imam holds meetings there. hate speech and incitement to hatred. The religious leader assured that his prayer was taken from a religious text and that it did not contain hatred or a call to violence. “I called on Allah to stop the genocide,” he pleaded.
Adil Charkaoui also wants to file a complaint with the Press Council against columnist Isabelle Hachey, of The Presssince she “diverted” her remarks in a text on her controversial speech on Tuesday.
Remember that Adil Charkaoui has a long media and legal history in Quebec: he was suspected of being a member of Al-Qaeda in 2003. He was detained for 21 months and had to wear an electronic bracelet for several years. In 2015, young people who attended his mosque and his classes at Collège de Maisonneuve also joined the ranks of jihad in Syria.
On October 7, he rejoiced over the massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel by sharing a video of young people fleeing the Supernova music festival in the desert. “The settlers fled like rats,” he said in a publication which is still available on the X network.