CAA calls on Home Secretary to ban alleged antisemite Sheikh Ekrima Sabri from entering the UK to address MPs
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, a former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and current Imam of the city’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, who allegedly denied that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, is reportedly scheduled to visit Britain from 11th-15th September as part of a delegation organised by the pro-Palestinian group EuroPal. It is reported that he will also meet with MPs in Parliament.
Sabri has a history of making antisemitic statements. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Sabri denied the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, telling Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, in 2000: “Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairytale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity.” Under the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the UK Government, “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is antisemitic.
Furthermore, Sabri reportedly said in a New York Times Magazine interview in 2000 that “If the Jews want peace, they will stay away from Al Aksa…This is a decree from Allah. The Haram al-Sharif belongs to the Muslim. But we know the Jew is planning on destroying the Haram. The Jew will get the Christian to do his work for him. This is the way of the Jews. This is the way Satan manifests himself. The majority of the Jews want to destroy the mosque. They are preparing this as we speak.” Under the the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.
Also according to MEMRI, Sabri said in an interview with the Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, in 2000 that “I enter the mosque of Al-Aqsa with my head up and at the same time I am filled with rage toward the Jews. I have never greeted a Jew when I came near one. I never will. They cannot even dream that I will. The Jews do not dare to bother me, because they are the most cowardly creatures Allah has ever created…”
In 2012, Sabri was reportedly banned by the French Government from entering France.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has asked the Home Office to follow suit and ban Sabri from entering the UK and speaking to MPs in Parliament.
We encourage you to add your voice by contacting your local MP using the simple form at writetothem.com.
We would like to thank the individuals and organisations which brought this matter to our attention.
