(Illustration)
(Illustration)Reuters

A Saudi Islamist preacher is warning against social media such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook, because, he claims, Jews are using them to “poison and hearts and minds of the Muslims”.

The comments by Abdulla Ba Neema were posted to the internet on May 3, and were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“One day, I went to study two hours before the dawn prayer, and one minute before the first call for prayer, a song was played from a cell phone in the mosque. I began to cry,” he said. “I said to myself: the Jews have accomplished their goal. They managed to get these song celebrations into the Prophet’s mosque, using me, you and (all) the Muslims. That was their plan.”

The Jews, claimed Ba Neema, “are always looking for things that the Muslims love. Is it because they want to take them away from the (Muslims)? No. They want to put poison into things that the Muslims like.”

“WhatsApp is Jewish, Twitter is Jewish, Facebook is Jewish, Instagram is Jewish, and Snapshot is Jewish. All the social networks are Jewish,” he claimed. “All our information is in their hands...as a result of WhatsApp and Twitter, women’s honor has been violated, men have divorced women, and men and women have committed adultery.”

Despite his criticism of social networks, MEMRI noted that Ba Neema runs very active Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.