A judge has issued a warrant for a Jordanian imam captured on video at a Montreal mosque asking for Jews to be killed, according to the Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith.
“According to Sergeant Detective Stéphane Roche of the Hate Crimes Unit of the Montreal Police Service, [Sheikh Muhammad ibn Musa Al Nasr] is charged with wilful promotion of hatred contrary to section 319(2) of the Criminal Code,” B’nai Brith said in a statement.
Al Nasr solicited outrage after a video recording surfaced of a sermon he delivered at the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque on Jean-Talon St. in the Saint-Michel neighbourhood. In it, he called Jews “the worst of mankind” and quoted a hadith—a compiled teaching of the words, actions or habits of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad—that calls for the rocks and trees to kill the Jews that hide behind them in the end time of the world.
Montreal police opened an investigation, and after several months a Quebec judge issued a warrant for Al Nasr’s arrest, according to the Jewish advocacy group. The warrant could not be verified with Quebec’s Crown Prosecutor on Sunday.
“This incident and others like it demonstrate that antisemitism, especially in the guise of religion, remains a serious problem in Canada today,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, in a statement. “We hope that these charges will deter future threats and assaults on our community. At the same time, we call on the Attorney-General to demand that Jordan, or whichever country is currently hosting Al Nasr, extradite him to Canada in order to face justice.”
Montreal police are also in the midst of an investigation into a local rapper that goes by the stage name Madd Cold. B’nai Brith recently complained to police the lyrics on display in his songs “Death to Israel” and “Overthrow the Saudis” were inciting violence towards the Jewish community.