Education officials in Florida have launched an investigation into a private Islamic school after a video containing anti-Semitic elements came to light showing an imam calling for the extermination of Jews.
The Florida Department of Education sent a letter to Reviver Academy on Thursday questioning its relationship with Dr. Fadi Kablawi, an imam who made inflammatory remarks during a sermon at Masjid as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyya in North Miami. I asked him to explain. The mosque is located within the school grounds.
Officials are asking schools to submit a list of all owners, leaders, managers and employees or risk losing taxpayer-funded vouchers. Florida Congressman Randy Fine said the school received $500,000 in vouchers that currently benefit 74 students.
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Dr. Fadi Kablawi’s anti-Semitic video. (Memuri TV)
Officials will also clarify whether the school is property of the mosque, what relationship the city of Kabrawi has with the school and its students, and whether students were present at the imam’s speech. We are asking schools to do the same.
“Calls for genocide will not be tolerated in the state of Florida,” Kathy Russell, deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Education, said in a May 16 letter to the school.
“This is especially true when made in the presence of students,” Russell wrote, adding that given Kablawi’s possible ties to the institution, the school may be in violation of the voucher program. He added that there is.
In Florida, families are legally allowed to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for tuition at the schools of their choice, according to the Miami Herald. This also includes private religious schools such as Reviver Academy.
A video of the imam livestreamed to Facebook on April 26 shows Qabrawi describing the Israeli army as “worse than the Nazis” and accusing them of organ trafficking. .
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Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and Governor Ron DeSantis hold a press conference in Miami, May 9, 2023. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
According to Memri TV’s translation: “O Allah, help our oppressed brethren in Palestine. O Allah, destroy the tyrannical Jews. O Allah, destroy them. They are no match for you,” Kablawi was heard saying in the sermon, translated by MEMRI TV. , Media Department of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“O Allah, exterminate the brethren of the monkeys and the pigs. O Allah, show them the wonders of your power. O Allah, cut off their seed. O Allah, cut off their fellowship. Please, Allah, disperse them,” Qablawi continued. And tear them apart. ”
Russell also told Reviver Academy that authorities are seeking any information regarding the imam’s speech. It takes him a week to respond to all requests.
Investigation comes amidst wave of anti-Semitism university campus.
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The investigation comes amid a wave of anti-Semitism on college campuses. A student waves a Palestinian flag in a crowd on the grounds of George Washington University on April 27, 2024. (ALI KHALIGH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Kablawi for comment, but he did not immediately respond. The Miami Herald reported that Kabraoui told the newspaper that he would involve his attorney if the state took any action against him.
The investigation comes after Republican state Rep. Randy Fine sent a letter to the Florida Department of Education asking it to suspend the school’s taxpayer funding status and launch an investigation into the school. It was conducted. The Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus and the nonprofit group Stop Antisemitism supported Fine’s call.
Mr. Fine also sent a letter to the Florida Board of Dentistry requesting that Mr. Kabraoui’s dental license be suspended and that an investigation be launched into his practice.
