Toulouse Imam Mohamed Tatai following MEMRI's Translation of His Antisemitic Sermon: I Was Talking about an End to Israel, Not to Judaism or the Jews

Following MEMRI's translation of a Friday sermon by Toulouse Imam Mohamed Tatai, in which he cited an antisemitic hadith, the Grande Mosquee de Toulouse posted a new video on YouTube, on July 5, in which Imam Tatai, formerly imam of the Mosquée Ennour and currently imam of the new Grand Mosque of Toulouse, clarified that he was talking about the end of the state of Israel, and not the end of Judaism as a religion or of the Jews as a people. For the video of his December 15 sermon, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 6637 Toulouse Imam Mohamed Tatai Recounts Antisemitic Hadith And Prophecies That Israel Will Soon Come To An End, December 15, 2017. Following the ensuing media attention, it was reported that public prosecutors in Toulouse were investigating Tatai for "possible incitement to hatred."

On screen: "What did Imam Mohamed Tatai say in his Friday sermon on December 15, 2017? What was the title of the sermon?"

Mohamed Tatai: "Today, I will talk about that tyrannical power, its oppressive rampage, and the destruction it sows. There is no law anywhere in the world that punishes the family of a guilty person – if he is, in fact, guilty. [In Israel], the punishment is not limited to incarceration and destruction, but includes the destruction of homes, and the incarceration of women and children. This is the Israeli rampage. That state is based on plunder."

On screen: "Does he confuse Judaism with Zionism?"

Mohamed Tatai: "We all differentiate between Judaism as a religion, which will last until Judgement Day, and between that racist movement, which plundered that pure land."

On screen: "Where did we get the notion of the fall of the State of Israel?"

Mohamed Tatai: "I say: Is there a hadith about the fall of that state? I'm not talking about the fall of that religion, but of that state."

On screen: "What does the Torah say about this matter?"

Mohamed Tatai: "Indeed, [Israel] has the support of East and West, the forces of tyranny and oppression, as well as the support of that crooked fool [Trump], who made, a few days ago, his unjust and unfair resolution, and talks about the history of Jewish Jerusalem. I asked: Are there any prophecies or tidings? If we speak today about the demise of Israel, it sounds like fiction, about the realization of something impossible. But we want tidings and signs. Let me show you some evidence taken from what they themselves say, not us, from their own prophecies, not ours, from their own books, not ours."

On screen: "What if 13 minutes later, the audience starts confusing Judaism and the Jews with the state of Israel?"

Mohamed Tatai: "First of all, the end of Israel as a state – note that I'm talking about the state – is inevitable, according to the Torah."

On screen: "Thus, it is very clear that the sermon was about the end of the state of Israel, as it appeared even in the prophecies of the Torah, and not about the end of Judaism – as a religion – or of the Jewish people."

Mohamed Tatai: "It is not me who says this. There is a prophecy in the Torah, or in the Talmud, which talks about a certain duration that that state will last, before it collapses and ends. This is their own prophecy. If this state was established in the name of religion... I am not talking about Judaism as a religion or about the Jews as a people, but about the oppressive state, the number one terrorist in the world, which is above international law."

On screen: "'Oh believers, if a sinner comes to you with any news, then verify it so you do not harm people out of ignorance and regret it.' Quran 49:6."