In a September 20, 2024 Friday sermon at the Islamic House of Wisdom which was livestreamed on Facebook, Michigan Shi'ite Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi said that the words "occupation," "apartheid," "genocide," and "war crimes" are not enough to describe the brutality and barbarism of Israel over the past year, and he said that the Zionists are the enemies of peace and love blood, misery, crime, and corruption. He said that it is "shameful" that the United States sponsors Israel's "terrorism" with taxpayer money, and he said that it appears that U.S. President Joe Biden is "sleeping" and the country is instead run by AIPAC. He criticized the recent pager attack in Lebanon, saying that it has broken international trust because now mobile devices, household appliances, cars, and airplanes may be subject to sabotage, and he cited several verses from the Quran that describe the treachery and mischief of the Jews.
On September 24, Imam Elahi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN Plaza in Manhattan, and there are also photos of him alongside U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
In July 2023, Imam Elahi had come under scrutiny by several Republican lawmakers for his ties with the Iranian regime (See MEMRI TV Clip No. 10433). For another recent clip in which Elahi criticized U.S. President Joe Biden, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 10879.
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi: "We cannot find the right words for things that we have been observing in the last year, for almost a year now. What is the word? Occupation, or apartheid, or genocide, or war crimes are not enough to describe the reality of this brutality and barbarism.
"We are dealing with these people who are enemies of peace. They love fighting. They love war. They love blood. They try to escalate the war, to make more mess and more misery in this world because they enjoy crime and corruption.
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"But what is really shameful for us as American citizens is that our government is sponsoring this terrorism, the state of terrorism with the tax of this nation. The taxpayers are paying for this kind of violence and terrorism.
'"And then nobody is even talking about that. It looks like we don't have any President now. President Biden is sleeping, we don't hear from him. And it looks like he is just sleeping – a country without a President at this time. And it looks like the country is run by AIPAC both in foreign policy and what is going on in Palestine and Lebanon.
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"Brothers and sisters, what Israel did in the pager[attacks] and other wireless devices in Lebanon – it is a tsunami against international trust in any transaction. Now there is going to be a crisis in business in the world, that all these countries that they order – whether you order a refrigerator, or a microwave, or a dishwasher, or a cellphone, or a car, or an airplane, or whatever – you don't know if it's going to be the same. If they could do this to a simple pager – what about an airplane? What about a TV set? So now they broke the international trust. That is a treason to [the] trust of this global community.
"They brought this chaos in transaction, because they are 'the people strongest in enmity towards the believers.' 'That is because they rejected the verses of Allah and killed the prophets.' What about this and that? 'They killed the prophets unjustly.' 'That is because they disobeyed [Allah] and transgressed.'
"In another verse, Allah was addressing them, saying: 'Then your heart became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder.' Their hearts are harder than stone. They have no hearts. They have no humanity. The have no trust. 'Every time they make a covenant, a group of them casts it aside. In fact, most of them do not believe.'
"You cannot trust their promises or their agreements. 'They hear the words of Allah and then distort it.' 'They will not stop fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can.' They d everything [so] that you forget about your principles and values, and just give up. That is...
"But Allah says: 'They will not fight you all, except within fortified cities or from behind walls.' They are not coming directly. They are behind walls, behind pagers, or you know, talkie-walkie and walkie-talkie and...
"'Their enmity amongst themselves is severe. You think they are united, but their hearts are divided. That is because they are a people who do not reason.' They are among themselves like cats and dogs. Thy are fighting day and night.
"'Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and transgressed.' They were cursed by Jesus, by David, because they are and they were from this generation people who stood against love, against justice, against humanity at the time of their own prophets, and they rejected the truth all the time.
"These are the guys, the Zionists, that humanity is dealing with this time."