Last week, one of the preachers at the Great Mosque in Mecca, Imam Saleh Bin Al-Humeid, gave an antisemitic sermon, calling for genocide of all Jews.
He said, "Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the plundering and occupying Jews, for they are no match for You. Oh Allah, bring down upon them Your punishment, from which criminals cannot escape. Oh Allah, we make You our shield against them, and take refuge with You against their evil."
These sermons are televised and approved by the Saudi kingdom.
Popular Israeli expert on the Arab world Edy Cohen launched a one man campaign against Humeid, demanding that he be fired and that the Saudi government apologize for this clear incitement against world Jewry.
His campaign has been noticed and widely publicized in the Arab world - and the backlash has resulted in many major Islamic figures defending Humeid.
The Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalili, expressed his solidarity with Humeid on Thursday, saying his Jew-hatred "warmed our hearts."
The head of the Palestine Scholars Association, Nassim Yassin, used similar language, saying "Sheikh bin Hamid warmed our hearts with his support for our cause and our Palestinian people," complaining about Cohen's campaign as "a despicable arrogance, and a clear and unjust injustice against the virtuous Sheikh and our Palestinian cause."
There was a popular hashtag in some Arab countries on Wednesday saying "We are all Sheikh Bin-Humeid."
Notice that, as usual, antisemitism is whitewashed as "support for Palestinians."
This explicit antisemitism has been roundly ignored in international media, but it is not like they aren't aware of it. CNN Arabic has written at least two articles about this controversy so far. As far as I can tell, this is the first time it is being discussed in English, a full week after the offensive sermon.
