Islamic Movement in Israel deputy leader Sheikh Kamal Khatib said that the Houston "flood" was divine punishment, praying: "Allah, increase [Your punishment] of the oppressors." He slammed the Saudi monarch for offering humanitarian aid for the victims in Houston, asking: "Aren't you aware that Muslims who are closer to you geographically are drowning?" He was speaking in his weekly Friday sermon on September 8.
Sheikh Kamal Khatib: "It is strange that at a time when the Rohingya people were drowning in swamps and rivers... You must have seen the mud there. The soil is full of water. It's like soap. At exactly the same time, there was the flood in Houston. I'm talking about the flood in America, which hit Houston and Texas, and wreaked havoc by the order of Allah. Oh Allah, increase [Your punishment] of the oppressors. At the same time, the king of Saudi Arabia called Trump and told him that Saudi Arabia was prepared to provide humanitarian aid to the victims in Houston. Woe unto you from Allah! Woe unto you from Allah!
"Does America need your dollars? Does it need your aid? Aren't you aware that Muslims who are closer to you geographically are drowning? They are dying. They are fate-stricken. They are crying: 'We are Muslims! We are being fought because we are Muslims!' No, no, no... These people do not look attractive. Their women look poor. They do not look like Ivanka. Am I right, or what?
"The people of Texas are affluent, my friends. That is the land of Las Vegas. Some of you must have heard or read about it. Las Vegas, the most famous gambling city in the world, is in Texas! Our [Saudi] friends must have gone there, and must have lost billions of dollars gambling there. They know the people of that place and felt sorry for them. They felt sorry for the people of the land of gambling, but not for the people who die because they attest: 'There is no god but Allah.'"