Florida Threatens to Revoke Vouchers for Muslim School Due to Radical Imam's Antisemitic Rhetoric

Following antisemitic comments made by an Islamic prayer leader who called Jews “brothers of apes and pigs,” while calling for their annihilation at a Miami mosque associated with a private Muslim school, Florida education officials are demanding the institution disclose its staff list or face losing taxpayer-funded state vouchers. 

On Thursday, the Florida Department of Education gave Northeast Miami-Dade’s Reviver Academy one week to provide a list of its administrators, staff, and personnel, in addition to explaining its ties to Imam Dr. Fadi Kablawi, a cleric at the on-site Golden Glades mosque. 

“In Florida, we will not tolerate calls for genocide. This is especially true where they are made in the presence of students,” wrote Deputy Executive Director of the School Choice Office at Florida Department of Education Cathy Russell in correspondence to the school, adding that failure to provide the information requested could result in losing voucher eligibility.

During a sermon at the North Miami Islamic Center, Florida, late last month, Kablawi called for Allah to support “our oppressed brothers” in Palestine, as well as for the total annihilation of Jews, who he referred to as “apes and pigs” — a phrase which has historically been used by radical Islamists to describe Jews.

“Oh Allah, annihilate the tyrannical Jews… for they are no match for You,” he said. “Oh Allah, annihilate the brothers of apes and pigs… [and] cut off their seed.”

A clip of the sermon, which was originally streamed live on the mosque’s Facebook page and later published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), had garnered nearly 150,000 views within a week.

In it, the North Miami Imam can also be seen accusing the Israeli army of being “worse than Nazis,” attributing wild and baseless allegations of soldiers stealing Palestinian skin and other organs.

“[Israel’s army] is the most immoral army… they are worse than Nazis,” he claimed, adding that he “apologized to the Nazis last week because these people have been proven to be worse than the Nazis.”

“They steal the skin of the Palestinians. It is not enough that they stole their land, now they steal their skin,” he added, claiming that organs are “missing from children [and] from adults.” 

Kablawi, who called for Allah to “show us the black days that you inflict upon the Jews” just weeks after the October 7 massacre, also suggested identifying just “who is behind organ trading” both in the United States and around the world, reviving conspiracy theories alleging that Israeli rescue and medical teams sent to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake participated in organ trafficking.

“Go ask the Haitians, when they had the earthquake, what happened there with these Israeli organizations going under [the guise of] medical help,” he said. “Go ask them, those who know, [how a] guy will come limping into their tents for treatment [and then] he will be carried out dead, organs missing.” 

According to the Florida imam and dental practitioner, the barbarism of the Jews can be attributed to the fact that “there is no God for these people.” 

“These people look at you as nothing but a mistake or, at best, you were created for their service,” he argued. “That is what they believe. That is what they say… and we don’t spread propaganda.”

He has previously called the establishment of Shari’a law as “freedom for Mankind” and that the United States does not belong to Americans but to Allah alone.

In response, Florida State Representative Randy Fine, Chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, was one of many who expressed outrage over the radical rhetoric being espoused on American soil, penning a letter calling on the Florida Board of Dentistry to immediately suspend Kablawia’s dental license for “openly advocating for violence against his Jewish patients.”

“Muslim terrorists are in our midst, and one is practicing dentistry courtesy of the people of the State of Florida,” the letter begins, before noting the serious and imminent danger the imam’s dental practice poses to Jews in the Sunshine State.

“The vast majority of Florida’s Jews are Zionists,” he noted. 

On Friday, Fine commended the Florida Department of Education for having “taken action and opened an investigation into Reviver Academy!” 

“In Florida, we fight Muslim Terror!” he wrote.  

The matter comes as more and more sermons and lectures containing radical rhetoric from Islamic leaders in America and the West come to light.

In October, a Colorado imam live-streamed a lecture for children that included a Quranic tale of Allah turning Jews into monkeys, as well as claims that Jews are predominantly deceptive and persistently “tricking us to trust them,” and it is ill-advised to “trust” or “do business” with them.

In November, an imam in California called for Zionist “dogs” to be “annihilated,” as he accused Israel of evildoing and expressed his longing for “the day that I get to listen to the last gasping breath of them hanging from the rope that Allah gave them to hang themselves.”

In March, a Michigan Islamic cleric appealed to Allah, seeking to become “soldiers” for Islam in any form desired, including death, vowed that Muslims will yet “slaughter” the Jews “like sheep” when the opportunity arises.

It also comes as more and more Western youth are reportedly turning to the Quran, often adopting radicalized views in the process.

Earlier in November, young TikTokers began promoting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his propaganda, as his “Letter to America” justifying the September 11 attacks went viral on the Chinese-owned social platform, with videos on the topic garnering millions of views.

During the public debate on the Israel-Hamas war, a new generation of those mostly born after September 11, 2001, or too young to recall the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in U.S. history, were seen defending bin Laden for his opposition to America and its support for Israel.

More recently, anti-Israel protesters on college campuses were seen participating in Islamic prayer, many with covered heads, amid Palestinian flags.