According to a statement sent by Sammy Mahdi’s services, the preacher “had been controversial for some time. In 2009, he had still called for Jews to be burned,” the statement said. The video had resurfaced in 2019. Toujgani had apologised for the remarks and spoke of a “slip” in connection with the “war” Israel is waging against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
This news galvanised politicians, first and foremost Ahmed El Khannouss, municipal councillor in Molenbeek (CDH). On his Facebook page, he defended the imam and criticised a “completely unjustified decision”. He then directly attacked state secretary Sammy Mahdi, “who participates in a delusional undertaking to compete with the extreme right and the extreme right in Flanders, who makes hallucinatory decisions and in particular bases them on contradictory information allegedly coming from the State Security Service”. He added: “He is accused of statements he made ten years ago! Statements in which he used drastic expressions. He condemned the Zionist aggression against Gaza (an aggression that caused hundreds of deaths)”.
These remarks immediately sparked controversy in the political arena. MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez believes that it is a “deeply shameful and unacceptable banalisation of anti-Semitism” and calls on the CDH to take action against it. […] [CDG=Centre démocrate humaniste, Belgian party] Le Soir