Antisemitic Statements by Senior Lebanese Sunni Cleric Ahmad Al-Zein: Jews Are Cowards, Control the Economy, and Have Backward Moral Values

In a February 8, 2019 interview on Al-Nujaba TV (Iraq), Sunni cleric and Chairman of the Society of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon Ahmad Al-Zein said that he believed in Khomeini and Khamenei's vision that Israel's demise is inevitable. He said that the "twisted logic" of 15 million Jews facing 1.6 billion Muslims "runs contrary to logic and history" and "must vanish." He said that the Jews have backward moral values and are cowards to their core, and accused them controlling the economy and using it as a weapon.

Following are excerpts:

Interviewer: In the past, Imam Khomeini brought us good tidings of the inevitability of Israel's demise. Then, Imam Khamenei added that Israel would not last for more than 25 years. Are you convinced by the vision of the leader [Khamenei] regarding the inevitability of Israel's demise, and the return and purification of the Al-Aqsa Mosque?

Ahmad Al-Zein: Undoubtedly. Imam Khomeini based himself on two aspects. The first is the religious aspect: Complete rejection of the Israeli aggression in Palestine and Jerusalem. The second aspect is the political aspect. The Islamic nation numbers 1.6 billion Muslims, whereas the number of Jews in Israel and worldwide does not exceed 15 million. From a social and political standpoint, this runs contrary to logic and history. This twisted logic must vanish. Can 15 million Jews face 1.6 billion Muslims?

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Why do we tend to forget that the Jews have backward moral values, that they cling to the material world, and that they are cowards? The Jews are cowards to their core. I know this because of the Jews who lived here, in Lebanon.

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The Jews around the world use money and the economy as weapons, and the Western civilization helps them in their confrontation with Islam and the Islamic nation.

Interviewer: Because they control the economy.

Ahmad Al-Zein: Yes, they control the economy.