Jewish Federation of North America proclaimed, “This attack is a terrible reminder that rising extremist violence is not only a scourge for the Jewish community, but for all Americans.”
By Rachel Avraham
On New Years in New Orleans, 14 people were killed and 30 others were injured in a terror attack that the FBI claims was “100 percent inspired by ISIS.” The fatalities include Nicole Perez, the single mom to a four-year-old boy; University of Alabama freshman Kareem Badawi; Nikyra Dedeaux, an 18-year-old who aspired to be a nurse; Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old father of two; 25-year-old Billy DiMaio; 21-year-old Hubert Gauthreaux; Aubern University alum Drew Dauphin; 25-year-old Matthew Tenedorio; 27-year-old Tiger Bech; etc.
Among the wounded were two Israelis, who were IDF reservists that fought in Gaza and Lebanon. Israeli consul for Southwest US, Elad Shoshan, told the Jerusalem Post: “They left the terror of one country and never expected to be victims of it in another.” Apparently, the Israel Consul related that the two Israelis came to the US for six weeks to “clean their heads,” adding, “They came here to relax, to travel. Now that’s interrupted in the most horrific way.”
Later in the day, seven civilians were injured in an explosion outside of Trump Hotel in Las Vagas. U.S. President Joe Biden said that law enforcement was investigating “whether there’;s any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans.” Both are regardless being investigated as acts of terrorism.
Following the double terror attacks on New Years in the United States, MEMRI, a prominent Jerusalem think tank, reported that the Houston mosque where the New Orleans terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar was a member had a history of engaging in anti-Semitic incitement. At a November 17, 2023 youth committee program in the Islamic Center of Greater Houston (ICHG) – Masjid Bilal, Imam Eiad Soudan discussed the history of Palestine.
Imam Eiad Soudan asked rhetorically, “Imagine, in Europe, what was happening to the Israelites there? As we said, [Jews were] killed, destroyed, persecuted, the question is why? Why were they treated this way? And why does the whole world today support them? Why does the whole world want them to stay in Palestine?”
He continued, “Because if they don’t stay in Palestine, they will go back to their countries, and those people, unfortunately, have one problem – well, they have many problems, but that’s one of the main problems – they like to take control of the economy. Everywhere they go, whatever is the rule, as long as they get to the goal, the means don’t matter. Interest, usuary is prohibited for them.”
According to Imam Soudan, “Still they use it to get control of the economy. That is why the other countries don’t want them back. So when they support them, they are not supporting them because they love them. It’s like: ‘Please stay there, we’ll do whatever [it takes], stay there, don’t come back.’ Allah told that in the Quran: ‘And they spread corruption across the land, and Allah does not like corrupters.’ They seek corruption in the land. In the First World War – Germany won or lost? Lost. Until this guy, Hitler, with the nice moustache, came to power, and we all know what he did. By the way, Hitler hated the Israelites so bad because of the economy thing, they were in control of the economy.”
In a separate event at the same mosque, Imam Mohammed ElFarooqui discussed the Quranic story of the People of Saturday in an August 16, 2024 Friday sermon: “Allah, the praised and exalted, ordered them not to fish on Saturday. And the test from Allah, the praised and exalted, for these people came in the form that, throughout the week, the fish would be less in quantity. And only on the day of Saturday, all the fish would flock to the surface. The first group of people, they were completely defiant to the command of Allah.”
Imam ElFarooqui continued: “They didn’t think there would be consequences of their defiance of the command of Allah, the praised and exalted, so they went ahead and fished on the day of Saturday. Then group 1B, what did they do? Group 1B, they say: ‘;You know what? We won;t fish on Saturday, our trenches will fish for us on Saturday.’ So what they did was by the shore they built trenches, they dug holes and trenches and they put the feed inside of these holes. They put the bait, they say, inside of these holes and they put a net over it. The fish, in going to try to get the bait, they would get stuck inside these trenches. Obviously this would happen on Saturday.”
Imam ElFarooqui claimed that Allah punished the Jews, the people of Saturday, for this by turning them into ages, pigs and rats: “Do we think Allah, the praised and exalted, is not watching us here? That’s what the Jews thought. They thought Allah, the praised and exalted, was watching them only in Jerusalem, in Bayt Al-Maqdis [the Temple]. So they went out everywhere on the face of this earth, started creating havoc everywhere.”
The Imam concluded his sermon: “Oh Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the hands of the plunderers. Oh Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the hands of the plunderers. Oh Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the hands of the plunderers. Oh Allah, send down on the Zionists, the aggressor and enemies, some of your soldiers. You are the only One who knows Your soldiers.”
In the days leading up to the New Orleans terror attack, ISIS published an editorial where they argued that both Christians and Jews, and their holidays, should equally be held in disdain by Muslims, “Congratulating Christians on their religious holidays of disbelief is prohibited by Islamic law.” The editorial published by ISIS views that commending Christians on their holidays strengthens their attachment to their “false” beliefs. Therefore,” how can they be guided to Islam if you are endorsing and congratulating them on their disbelief?” They added, “The problem lies not just with celebrating the New Year, but with the core of faith itself. The foundation of Islam is love and hatred for the sake of Allah—loving faith and detesting disbelief.” ISIS concluded, “Those who fail to heed the warnings and
signs will ultimately be guided by the sword of Jesus, the servant and messenger of Allah.”
A number of days after this editorial was published, the New Orleans terror attack took place. Is there a connection between the anti-Semitic incitement that took place in the Houston mosque and the horrific terror attack that took place in New Orleans this past New Years? Only time will tell. However, what we know for sure is that ISIS holds Christians just as much in disdain as they hold Jews, based on the recent ISIS editorial that was translated into English by MEMRI, and the terrorist was inspired by ISIS to do what he did in New Orleans.
Following the New Orleans terror attack, the Jewish Federation of North America proclaimed: “Jewish Federations of North America are horrified at the targeted terrorist attack on New Year’s Day in New Orleans that killed at least 10 people and injured at least 35, including two Israeli nationals. We mourn for the lost and pray for the full and speedy recovery of the injured. We are alarmed at reports that the driver was carrying an ISIS flag. This attack is a terrible reminder that rising extremist violence is not only a scourge for the Jewish community, but for all Americans.”
