Cleric who called for 'evil, human demon' Jews to be killed at Canada mosque faces arrest

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Palestinian-Jordanian cleric after he gave a sermon at a Canadian mosque in which he called Jews "the most evil of mankind" and "human demons", and cited a passage from Islamic scripture calling for them to be killed.

Footage of the December 2016 session at Montreal's Dar al-Arkam Mosque by the cleric Sheikh Muhammad ibn Musa Al Nasr was posted online. The translated sermon, delivered in Arabic, was highlighted by the Jewish organisation B'nai Brith, which filed a complaint in court.

Now a judge in Quebec has issued a warrant for the arrest of Al Nasr on charges of promoting hatred.

"Today, the Jewish community of Montreal can sleep safer, knowing that there is a price to pay for inciting violence against our community," said Michael Mostyn, chief executive of B'nai Brith Canada.

"B'nai Brith deeply appreciates the diligent work of the newly-formed Hate Crimes Unit of the Montreal Police Service and Quebec prosecutors on this file.

"This incident and others like it demonstrate that anti-Semitism, especially in the guise of religion, remains a serious problem in Canada today. We hope that these charges will deter future threats and assaults on our community.

"At the same time, we call on the attorney-general to demand that Jordan, or whichever country is currently hosting Al Nasr, extradite him to Canada in order to face justice."

The mosque has not yet commented on the Al Nasr sermon.

In a report earlier in the year, B'nai Brith said the number of anti-Semitic incidents hit a record high in 2016. At 1,728 recorded incidents, it was a 26% rise on the previous year. B'nai Brith has been tracking anti-Semitism in Canada for over three decades.