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In a Friday sermon delivered on July 18, 2014 at the Islamic Education Center of Houston, Texas, Pakistani-born Shiite Imam Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri said that "one of the worst Hitlers in this world is Netanyahu" and that Israel was perpetrating a holocaust in Gaza. "We believe that this regime is going to be washed from the map," he said. The sermon was uploaded to the YouTube channel of the Islamic Education Center of Houston.
Following is a transcript:
Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri: Oh, brothers and sisters, today we are all mourners, as the world has been filled with injustice, as we are witness of the killing of thousands of followers of Islam. As we can see, there is a massacre of the children of Islam. As we can see, there is a complete genocide, an ongoing genocide of a whole nation. Those who are claiming for the Holocaust are causing another holocaust. Those who think that they are against Hitler have become Hitler today. Today, one of the worst Hitlers in this world is Netanyahu. Today, the one who stays and claims that Israel was made to stand against the Holocaust, but ask them: Entering into the Gaza Strip, and having this country besieged in these last many many years – isn’t that a holocaust?
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How many people have been killed? There is no number. There is no count for that because they are not considered even human beings. A nation that is not considered even human beings… Oh Muslim brothers and sisters, it is time to wake up. Do not let us be asleep. It is time to wake up. It is a wake-up call for all of us that Israel is causing a holocaust. It began from Iraq. We have seen that according to the recent report of the U.N., in Iraq, more than 5,000 people are being killed.
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They have created ISIS in order to massacre in the Islamic world. It was prepared to make a ground for Israeli forces to enter Gaza. Iraq was the beginning, and the result is the attack on Gaza. The attack on Gaza gives us clear indication that preparations were made somewhere else.
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There is a nation that is still standing. It is resisting. It is significant to say, brothers and sisters, that today, the victory belongs to the people in Palestine. Because if somebody can resist with the stones, with the little missiles, that means this nation is victorious. Even if all the people in Palestine will be killed – they are victorious.
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Sacrificing is our honor, and we will sacrifice for our principles. That is what Hamas is standing [for] today.
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If they will not provide peace to the people in Palestine, the Zionist regime will never live in peace in the world.
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We say today, all together, in this Friday prayer… Let us raise our voices against this Zionist regime: Down with Israel!
Congregation: Down with Israel!
Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri: Down with Israel!
Congregation: Down with Israel!
Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri: And we believe in that. Believe me, this is not a slogan. We believe that this regime is going to be washed from the map. A time is going to come that the Zionist regime will not exist in this world. We will see the time when the flag of Islam is going to be the flag of victory.
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