Two days before the horrific terror attack in Sydney last Friday, the designated weekly preacher in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest site, delivered a sermon that was openly antisemitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel.
During the sermon, Imam Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid asked God to punish the Jews, described Israel as a “cruel Zionist enemy,” and even praised the Palestinian struggle.
And yes, he meant Jews. Jews in Australia, Jews in the US, Jews in France, in other words, Jews everywhere. Whether or not the sermon had any direct connection to the attack in Sydney, sermons like this encourage terrorists, help justify the murder of Jews, and provide religious legitimacy. What are millions of Muslims supposed to think when they hear the imam in Mecca vilifying and cursing Jews?
In the past, antisemites tried to hide behind excuses. They claimed they were “only” against Israel, against the IDF, against the settlers. But in Saudi Arabia, they still preserve the long-standing tradition of cursing Jews in the weekly sermon. The difference these days is that because of their close ties with the US, and because of their desire to acquire F-35 fighter jets, the Saudis have stopped cursing Christians. That is the only difference.
Some will say it is all because of Gaza, because normalization has not happened, or for some other reason. As someone who has followed the Arab world for more than two decades, I can tell you with certainty: the Saudis never stopped, for even a moment, cursing Jews from the most prominent pulpit imaginable, and they will not stop.
Sermon reaching tens of millions of Muslims
In practice, this sermon, broadcast on Saudi state television, spread on social media, and circulated via many Saudi-funded TV channels around the world, reached tens of millions, and possibly hundreds of millions, of people. For Muslims, nothing is more important or sacred than the mosque in Mecca and the preacher who speaks from it. It is worth noting that the sermon is translated into dozens of languages and reaches Muslims who are not Arabs and do not speak Arabic, including Turks, Indonesians, Pakistanis, and others.
There are those who will argue the preacher spoke on his own, without approval from above, meaning the crown prince did not authorize it. That is simply not true. The Saudi crown prince knows about every ant that moves across Saudi Arabia, and certainly about the most important sermon, heard by millions across the world.
Regardless of the war in Gaza, the Saudis have always cursed Jews. The conflict between the Prophet Muhammad and Jewish tribes, which began in Khaybar in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century, has not been forgotten. It is still with us today. The chant “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud” (a slogan invoking the battle of Khaybar as a threat against Jews) is the clearest proof. In other words: we will do to you exactly what we did to the Jews of Khaybar. In two words: we will destroy you.
Anyone who thinks the crown prince will order a stop to antisemitic incitement is wrong and is misleading others. Mohammed bin Salman wants to cement his standing among Arabs, and his entry ticket is the Palestinian issue. He will not give it up. He will work to maximize Palestinian gains at our expense. He wants to be seen as an Arab hero, as someone who succeeded in bringing the Palestinians a state. That is why he will not normalize with Israel for free, as long as there is no Palestinian state.
Back to the antisemitic sermon. It may stop, but only if the Americans, who in practice protect the Saudis in the Gulf against Iran, instruct him to stop. Anyone who thinks the Saudis are moderates is captive to a dangerous misconception. Remember: Osama bin Laden was Saudi, and 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11 attacks were also Saudis.
The writer is an orientalist (Middle East scholar), a Lebanon-born lecturer on antisemitism, and a researcher at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy (ICGS).