Controversial imam Adil Charkaoui has publicly called for violence in speeches in Montreal since the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
“Oh God, deal with the aggressor Zionists. Take responsibility for the enemies of Gaza. Count them one by one and kill them in the long term and do not exclude any of them,” he explained in a speech in Arabic accessible on his Tiktok account.
The call was made at the end of October as part of a pro-Palestine demonstration in front of a large crowd in front of the Place des Arts in the city center.
In another speech from mid-October, the coordinator of the Canadian Anti-Islamophobia Collective similarly implores in Arabic that the enemies of Gaza residents “will be identified and killed without anything left” and that they will face a catastrophe “Black Day “.
He says he wants prisoners released from Zionist prisons.
Other explanations
Adil Charkaoui is best known for having been imprisoned for almost two years since 2003 for alleged links to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
The imam, who has been a Canadian citizen since 2014 and currently preaches at a mosque in Montreal’s Rosemont district, has not made his first controversial statements since October 7.
“Settlers are fleeing like rats from the land they have illegally occupied. Alhamdoulilah [Dieu merci en français]” he wrote on October 7 on X, adding the hashtag “AqsaTorrent” (the actual name of Hamas’s terrorist operation) to the publication.
Adil Charkaoui welcomes the Al-Aqsa terror operation on X (formerly Twitter). Photo credit: Screenshot Adil Charkaoui’s X account screenshot
His message was linked to a video he shared in which we see people fleeing into the desert. During the October 7 terrorist attacks, around 1,400 people were massacred in Israel, including young music festival attendees who tried to flee into the desert.
In another publication, Charkaoui reported on the capture of Israeli General Nimrod Aloni by Hamas terrorists.
Which Palestine?
“Liberation of several places in occupied Palestine! “The Wall of Shame was destroyed, several soldiers were captured, the settlers fled like rats… At dawn on Saturday, the Al-Aqsa operation began,” Charkaoui wrote in another message in early October, using the same image of the fleeing rats and renewed reference to the name of Hamas’ terrorist operation.
Adil Charkaoui welcomes the Al-Aqsa terror operation on X (formerly Twitter). Photo credit: Screenshot Adil Charkaoui’s X account screenshot
Adil Charkaoui was contacted by our investigation office and did not respond to our messages.
Not a premiere
It is not the first time that Adil Charkaoui has been suspected of having sympathies for radical movements:
2003: Suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda, he was arrested by the Canadian government in May 2003. He was released after 21 months in prison under conditions.
2015: Sabrine Djermane and El Mahdi Jamali are accused of trying to leave Canada to join the Islamic State (Daesh). It was discovered that Mr. Jamali attended the Assahaba Mosque, where Mr. Charkaoui preaches, before he was arrested in April 2015.
2021: Adil Charkaoui preaches for the Taliban, a group Canada considers a terrorist entity. “Afghanistan has never been so safe […] Men, women and children are finally enjoying liberation,” Charkaoui wrote on Twitter.
– In collaboration with Chrystian Viens, Yves Lévesque and Sarah-Maude Lefebvre.