Islamic Speaker at Bernie Rally Has Said Zionists Are the Ones Actually Behind ISIS
An imam who spoke at Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ rally in Dearborn, Michigan, on Saturday has claimed that “ISIS somehow is connected to Israel” and “playing the role of the arm of the Zionists.”
The Detroit-based religion leader, Sayed Hassan al-Qazwini, further described the Vermont senator as an “honorable man, even though he is a Jew.”
Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin highlighted some of Qazwini’s views, tweeting a video from the Sanders rally, when the imam addressed the crowd in Arabic.
This is the Imam from the Bernie rally. He has some interesting theories about how ISIS and Israel are working together. https://t.co/A7LnGyv00R https://t.co/SNkd0sQ4vx
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 10, 2020
Rogin including a link to another video posted by the Middle East Media Research Institution, in which Qazwini linked ISIS to Israel.
Mediaite reported that the archival footage is from a sermon given on Nov. 20, 2015, when the so-called ISIS caliphate still spread over much of Syria and Iraq.
During those remarks, Qazwini said, “I have no doubt ISIS is motivated by an agenda run by the enemies of Islam.”
Detroit-Based Shiite Imam Hassan Qazwini: ISIS Run by Israel, Zionists In Order to Kill Muslims, Defame Islam; Israel Benefits from ISIS More than Anyone (Archival) pic.twitter.com/3Y2d0sIJk4
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 2, 2019
He offered as proof that ISIS had targeted Muslim countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen and Algeria for attacks, but never Israel.
“What does this tell you?” Qazwini asked. “This speaks out. This speaks volumes that ISIS somehow is connected to Israel, and ISIS is playing the role of the arm of the Zionists in the Muslim world to kill more Muslims, so it can define the name of Islam, so people can blame Islam for its atrocities, so people will be alienated from this religion, this peaceful religion, our religion.”
At the Sanders rally on Saturday, the imam said, “Bernie Sanders is not a politician, I attest to that. He is a man of honor, he is a man of principle, and he proved that.”
Qazwini also praised the Vermont senator for resisting the “pro-Israel lobby” in September 2016, saying, “I truly consider him an honorable man, even though he is a Jew,” according to MEMRI TV.
Sanders has not shied away from being associated with people guilty of making anti-Semitic remarks.
The Democratic presidential candidate accepted an endorsement in the fall from and campaigned with Rep. Ilhan Omar in his losing effort to win the Minnesota primary last week.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) says at Bernie Sanders’ campaign rally that she wants a president that fights against “western imperialism”
In other words, she wants nations like China to go unchecked in their growing aggression and expansion which is a massive threat to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/IPuSt9WASA
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 4, 2019
Omar — a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement targeting Israel — was named the “Antisemite of the Year” in 2019 by the anti-hate group StopAntisemitism.org.
Among her other controversial comments during her first year in office is that Israel’s support in Congress is “all about the Benjamins.”
Sanders also celebrated the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s endorsement over the weekend.
News surfaced during Jackson’s own presidential run in 1984 that he referred to New York City as “Hymietown,” a derisive reference to the Big Apple’s significant Jewish population, The New York Times reported.
Jackson apologized, but the damage to his reputation and his candidacy was already done.
Qazwini’s participation in the Sanders rally and Sanders’ pattern of associating with anti-Semites is disturbing and yet another reason he should never be president.
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