The Comorian head of state, Azali Assoumani, who likes to call himself “al-Imam” (religious guide, editor’s note) inaugurates a mosque in Maraharé, a locality located in Anjouan where the governor of this island is from.
In a beige ceremonial dress, a cap on her head, Azali Assoumani, who presides over the destinies of a very predominantly Muslim archipelago, takes the microphone and praises the merits of living together to an assembly of the faithful during the traditional Friday prayer.
“Muslims and Christians must live together,” he said. And that’s where he slips up.“We must live with the Catholics but also with the accursed Jews, may the wrath of God fall on them. The Jews are the masters of the world. They are not like us. They (the Jews) lurk in the shadows and reveal themselves when the time is right”.
The video from which the statement is taken was published on the official page of the governorate of Anjouan. “In the Comorian language, the term yahudi (Jewish, editor’s note) refers to someone fundamentally bad. It is something commonly accepted that has never been questioned either by politicians or by religious people. It is however urgent that the debate be posed and these terms banished”,advanced this anonymous observer. For the rest, he added, “ a head of state should be able to restrain himself. But it is clear that what he said only struck a small number of informed people.
