Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro must rescind a $5 million grant awarded in March to the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in Philadelphia, Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, tells Newsmax.
"I'm urging the people of Pennsylvania to write to him and speak out," Klein said Monday on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "Stop giving money to a mosque that promotes hatred of American Jews and Israel."
Shapiro, who is Jewish, announced the grant while attending an iftar dinner, as people gathered to break their Ramadan fast. The money is targeted for the mosque's community center and is reportedly the largest grant awarded to a Muslim organization.
"This is really astonishing," Klein said. "This is $5 million of taxpayers' money... They're a group that promotes hatred of America, not only Israel, Jews, and others. They are a threat to America, not just Israel."
Klein added that the mosque brings in speakers "who are friends with the blind sheikh who bombed the World Trade Center."
"They have videos justifying sex slavery," he said. "They have speakers, the imams, saying that Arabs are superior to all races... when it comes to Jews, the imams there give speeches that are unbelievable. [They say] Jews are the vilest people. The Jews are committing genocide. Jews are committing apartheid. They stole Arab land. They're enemies of Allah. They quote from the hadith, which calls for the murder of every Jew. So this is an incredible Jew hatred."
Five years ago, Al-Aqsa Islamic Society apologized after a sermon by Imam Abdelmohsen Abouhatab, who delivered several antisemitic statements, calling Jews the "enemies of Allah."
Klein said that Shapiro, who he has known for more than 30 years, is "legitimizing and normalizing radical Islam, radical Islamic bigotry, radical Islamic hatred, radical Islamic antisemitism, and hatred against our very way of life" by allowing the grant, adding that "This is a disgrace."
According to Shapiro's office, the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant is to fund the mosque's community center, which plans to add classrooms and educational spaces for nearly 300 students.
Shapiro also said he welcomed the mosque, but Klein asked if he would also welcome "vile terrorist groups" like the Ku Klux Klan or Hamas.
"This is not just an ordinary moderate mosque," said Klein. "It is a disgraceful, Jew-hating, America-hating mosque that promotes hatred and terrorism."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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