Three police forces around the country are investigating suspected hate speech by preachers at mosques following a TalkTV investigation.
The investigation uncovered footage of preachers in several mosques calling for Jews to be killed and Israel to be destroyed, sparked by the war on Hamas.
Officers from West Midlands Police, the Met Police and Northamptonshire Police are now actively investigating the allegations.
Leaked footage from a sermon at the Redbridge Islamic Centre in Ilford shows one speaker praying with his congregation in Arabic to “curse the Jews and the children of Israel.”
The speaker prays: “Oh, Allah, curse the Jews and the children of Israel. Curse the infidels, break their words.
“Shake their feet. Disperse and tear apart their community and ruin their houses and destroy their homes.”
The recording was translated twice independently.
Another clip from a Liverpool mosque shows a preacher telling his audience: “If two billion Muslims just marched on Israel, it’s all over.”
Mosques in Birmingham and Northampton have been recorded repeating similar rhetoric.
“Heed our hearts regarding the usurping Jews and in every enemy of you and the Muslims. Oh God, limit their number.
“Kill them indiscriminately and do not leave any of them alive. Oh God, our Lord. Disperse them. Weaken their strength, shake the ground beneath their feet and freeze the blood in their veins. Make them captive to the Muslims.”
Jewish groups say that the police aren’t doing enough and they are calling for prosecutions in some cases, warning that some of these sermons could lead not only to hate crime but extremism and even terror.
Steven Silverman, Campaign Against Antisemitism told TalkTV: “There is no difference between the rhetoric in the Hamas charter and the rhetoric that is on display in these videos. They are utterly hateful. They are violent and they are a threat, both to Jews and non Jews in this country.
“There is a real risk of more than just one person being encouraged by this rhetoric to go out and take action on the streets, and we’ve seen how bad that can be in the past.
TalkTV has confirmed that police are assessing video evidence from four of the seven mosques we’ve highlighted.
The Charity Commission is also assessing complaints about those which are registered charities.
In a statement, it said, “We are aware of a significant number of serious concerns regarding activities linked to some charities… These largely concern allegations of antisemitic or hate speech… We are assessing these. If we find that there has been wrongdoing, we will take action.”
Talk TV reached out to all of the mosques and figures featured in this report.
Redbridge Islamic Centre declined to comment directly to us but previously said it launched an immediate investigation and decided that the Imam will not be allowed to address worshippers again, until it’s concluded. No other mosques responded.
