Cleric Ali Talal at Shiite Mosque in France: We Will Uproot Zionism; The Zionists Are the Source of All Disputes

On April 29, Shiite cleric Ali Talal delivered an address at the Centre Zahra Mosque in Grande-Synthe, France. Wearing camouflage fatigues, Talal "saluted" Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for his "steadfastness." Addressing the "accursed, criminal, and arrogant Zionists," Talal said that "we won't rest" until Zionism is removed from all the land. During another sermon on May 15, Talal talked about Zionists being "the source of all disputes." On October 2, Centre Zahra Mosque and the homes of twelve of its members were raided by French police, who arrested three of the mosque's leaders for illegal weapons possession. The police raids were prompted by suspicion of links to terrorist organizations. Centre Zahra's founder, Yahia Gouasmi, is also the founder of France's Anti-Zionist Party and of the Shiite Federation of France.

Following are excerpts:

Shiite Cleric Ali Talal on April 29: In light of the steadfastness we are witnessing, especially in recent days, when we hear the arrogance or tyranny and the arrogance of America and its satellites like France, Britain, and their helpers from amongst the traitorous and powerless Arabs, we must salute the leader of that country [Syria], and thank him for his steadfastness. We shall stand by his side, until we uproot Zionism from its very roots, Allah willing.

[…]

Allah willing, we will all continue united, until we uproot Zionism from its very roots. We pray for Allah to get us all to that day soon. To the accursed, criminal, and arrogant Zionists we say: We won't rest until we see your removal from the land in its entirety.

[…]

On May 15: All of us who are anti-Zionist must accept one another until we finish them and rid the world of them, and until the downtrodden will be relieved of them. Then we will sit down to discuss our disputes, if we have any left. I'm telling you that there will be no disputes left, because those arrogant Zionists are the source of all disputes. Those accursed [Zionists] do not want humanity to live at all.