Muslim preacher calls for murder and abduction of Jews at Belgian Parliament ceremony awarding him with 'successful integration'

In the Belgian Parliament last Tuesday, a Pakistani imam in Belgium recited a verse from the Quran that calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive.

The verse quoted by Qari Muhammad Ansar Norani was: “And He brought down those from the People of the Book who supported the enemy alliance from their own strongholds, and cast horror into their hearts. You ‘believers’ killed some, and took others captive.” (Surah 33:26)

Norani was invited to speak by the Belgian Parliament's Deputy Speaker and Vice President Hasan Koyuncu, a member of the socialist party, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Koyuncu and State Secretary of Brussels Metropolitan Area Nawal Ben Hamou presented Norani with a medal for his “successful integration.” According to Belgian parliament's Theo Francken, the imam speaks only Urdu, Arabic and English.

Israeli Ambassador to Belgium Idit Rosenzweig expressed her horror at the incident.

“Absolutely horrified to discover that in Brussels Parliament, an invited Muslim preacher chose to recite parts of Surah ‘Al-Ahzab’, a Surah about a battle between Muslims and Jews. This is a Surah that explicitly (26) calls for the KILLING and TAKING CAPTIVE of Jews! In these words!” Rosenzweig wrote on 𝕏. 

“He could have chosen anything else. A frightening symbolic message to anyone who knows the Quran, straight from the parliament podium. In Brussels parliament, a city with 18,000 Jews who are already experiencing increased antisemitism and fear.”

Another member of parliament, Darya Safai, an Iranian who was jailed in Iran, revealed her shock that the government would allow a call to attack Jews.

“With the same chants as here in the Brussels parliament, we woke up every morning in the prison of the ayatollahs, were required to pray in our cell with the same words, and at the same time, several Iranians were hanged to set an example to others. I managed to escape that prison alive, unlike many others, and it shocks me even more to hear the same thing here in Belgium, 24 years later, in the heart of Western democracy,” she wrote on 𝕏. 

On Saturday evening, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told the Jerusalem Post that Belgium is one of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe.

“Belgium along with France lead the most pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line in all of Europe, and it’s no wonder that with them radical Islam is rampant. Turning their back on Israel has been clarified as a difficult strategic mistake.”

Last week, Belgian Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt confirmed that the Hamas terror organization operates in Belgium.  

“So far, we know that Hamas is active in Belgium through various companies. The activities (...) focus on lobbying and fundraising,” the justice minister said.

Israel warned Europe about the threat posed by Hamas as late as December 2023, when personal letters, signed by Chikli, were sent to 20 European leaders. The letters contained evidence of Hamas terrorist activity and operatives of PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) in major European cities.

In October 2021, a Moroccan imam who called for the “burning of Jews” in a 2009 video, was banned from Belgium as a national security threat.

The majority of Belgium's 29,000 Jews are based in Brussels and Antwerp, according to the World Jewish Congress.