A Victoria, British Columbia imam has continued to deliver extreme antisemitic sermons to followers in the city, even after videos of his hateful rhetoric were published by a watchdog organization, according to B’nai Brith Canada.
Younus Kathrada, the head of an organization called Muslim Youth of Victoria, was recently exposed yet again by MEMRI TV “pray[ing] for Allah to bring annihilation upon the criminal and plundering Jews.”
In a previous May 2021 video posted by MEMRI, Kathrada said that Muslims’ “enmity towards the Jews is just and sensible” and said, “Oh Allah, give strength to Islam and Muslims to humiliate the infidels and the polytheists.”
B'nai Brith Canada recently submitted a formal criminal complaint to the Victoria Police Department (VPD), regarding Kathrada's latest hateful speech.
The VPD responded in an email to B’nai Brith, saying that the video of Kathrada’s sermon will be reviewed by a specialized officer.
"The Victoria PD and several other agencies on Vancouver Island are very much aware of Kathrada's statements and are monitoring him,” the email said.
B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn said: “It is important that this extremist hate-monger is being vigorously investigated after this latest hate incident. It's appalling that such noxious hate speech against Jews is allowed to continue in Canada, and we hope Kathrada will now face criminal charges."
B’nai Brith noted that Kathrada, who has been denounced by the local Muslim community, has been the subject of criminal complaints that they made to law enforcement in the past, starting in 2004.
The advocacy group listed other hateful incidents involving Kathrada, including an October of 2019 speech in which he advised congregants not to vote in the Canadian federal election, arguing that all Jewish and Christian candidates were “filthy” and “evil.” In January of that year, Kathrada suggested that wishing Christians a Merry Christmas was a sin worse than murder.
This was followed by an April 2020 sermon, where he called for the annihilation of atheists and victory for jihad.
In November 2020, Kathrada was reported to the police by B'nai Brith for statements comparing Jews to monkey and pigs and calling for their destruction. In August 2021, he described Christians and Jews as 'our enemies' who were trying to "spend mountains of gold to drive us away from Islam."
"The insults and the ruthless rhetoric that this person has hurled at the Jewish people and others over the years transcend acceptable behaviour, particularly for a religious leader, and is clearly hate-motivated," Mostyn said. "Our country cannot allow any individual or group preach with such venom."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)