Education officials in Florida have launched an investigation into a private Muslim school after an antisemitic-laced video of an Imam calling for the annihilation of Jews came to light.
The Florida Department of Education on Thursday wrote to Reviver Academy demanding it explain its relationship with Imam Dr. Fadi Kablawi, who made the inflammatory remarks during a sermon at Masjid As Sunnah An Nabawiyyah in North Miami. The mosque is located on the grounds of the school.
The officials are asking the school to turn over a list of all its owners, leaders, operators and employees or risk losing its taxpayer-funded vouchers. Florida state Representative Randy Fine says the school has received $500,000 in vouchers that currently benefit 74 students.
FLORIDA IMAM AND DENTIST CALLS FOR ‘ANNIHILATION’ OF JEWS, SAYS ISRAELI MILITARY ‘WORSE THAN THE NAZIS’
Dr. Fadi Kablawi in his antisemitic video. (MEMRI TV)
Officials are also calling for the school to reveal if it is owned by the mosque, what relationship Kablawi has with the school and its students, and if any students were present for the Imam’s speech.
“In Florida, we will not tolerate calls for genocide,” Cathy Russell, the deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Education, wrote in a letter to the school on May 16.
“This is especially true where they are made in the presence of students,” wrote Russel, who added that the school may be in violation of the voucher program given Kablawi’s possible links to the institution.
In Florida, families are legally allowed to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay tuition at the school of their choice, according to the Miami Herald. That includes private religious schools, such as Reviver Academy.
The Imam’s video, which was live-streamed to Facebook on April 26, shows Kablawi describing the Israeli military as being “worse than the Nazis” and accusing it of trafficking organs.
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Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz with Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference in Miami on May 9, 2023. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Oh Allah, support our oppressed brothers in Palestine. Oh Allah, annihilate the tyrannical Jews. Oh Allah, annihilate them, for they are no match for you,” Kablawi can be heard saying in the sermon, according to a translation by MEMRI TV, the media arm of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“Oh Allah,” Kablawi continued, “annihilate the brothers of apes and pigs. Oh Allah, demonstrate upon them the wonders of your might. Oh Allah, cut off their seed. Oh Allah, break up their fellowship. Oh Allah, disperse them and rend them asunder.”
Russel also told Reviver Academy that officials want all information pertaining to the Imam’s speech. It has one week to respond to all the demands.
The investigation comes amid a wave of antisemitism on college campuses.
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The investigation comes amid a wave of antisemitism on college campuses. A student waves a Palestinian flag among the crowd at George Washington University’s Yard on April 27, 2024. (ALI KHALIGH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Kablawi for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The Miami Herald says Kablawi told the publication he intends to get attorneys involved should the state take any action against him.
The investigation comes after Republican State Rep. Randy Fine wrote to the Florida Department of Education calling on it to suspend the school’s eligibility for taxpayer funding and for it to launch an investigation into the school. The Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus and the non-profit StopAntisemitism backed Fine’s calls.
Fine also wrote to the Florida Board of Dentistry, requesting Kablawi’s dental license be suspended and an investigation into his practice be launched.
