Dr. Fadi Kablawi — a dentist from Miami, Florida and an imam at the North Miami Islamic Center — has come under fire for making a series of antisemitic comments. Photo: Screenshot

An imam in South Florida who recently accused Israel of being “worse than the Nazis” and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories is now defending his comments as he faces calls to suspend his dental license.

Dr. Fadi Kablawi, a dentist from north Miami, made the controversial comments while delivering a Friday sermon on April 26, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which first flagged his remarks.

Beyond calling the world’s lone Jewish state “worse” than Nazi Germany, Kablawi touted conspiracy theories that Israeli aid organizations used the 2010 Haiti earthquake as a cover to harvest innocent Haitians’ organs.

Florida Imam Dr. Fadi Kablawi in North Miami Friday Sermon Accuses Israel of Organ Theft, Trafficking, Prays: Oh Allah, Annihilate the Tyrannical Jews, the Brothers of Apes and Pigs #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/4XAcqxkRJM

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 13, 2024

“It is not enough that they [Israel] stole their land; now they steal their skin,” he said, suggesting that Israel is engaging in similar practices during its current war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

“Go and find who is behind organ trading in this country or this world. Go and ask them, those who know,” Kablawi urged his congregants. “All that is because there is no God for these people. All that is because these people look at you as nothing but a mistake, or at best, you were created for their service.”

Among his supplications at the end of his sermon, he pleaded, “Oh God, fall upon the tyrannical Jews,” and “fall upon the brothers of apes and pigs … Oh God cut off their seed.”

The North Miami Islamic Center (or Masjid As-Sunnah An-Nabawiyyah), where Kablawi serves as the sole imam, calls itself “one of the largest Islamic centers in the State of Florida.”

The Algemeiner reported on Kablawi’s remarks on Monday as part of a larger news story on Islamic preachers in the US leveraging their positions in recent weeks to disseminate hateful messages about Israel and the Jewish people.

Coinciding with the report, Kablawi received backlash from state lawmakers and defended himself to a local media outlet.

“Suddenly they’re so offended that I’m making a prayer; this is how low it is,” Kablawi told NBC6, a local affiliate in south Florida. “It was a prayer — I was asking God to deal not with the Jews, to deal with the atrocities of the tyrannical Jews.”

Kablawi insisted his remarks were merely political.

“I wasn’t calling for violence. I wasn’t calling for anyone to harm anybody. I was making a pure prayer against tyrannical criminals who are killing my people,” he said.

Kablawi’s remarks have sparked a significant backlash in the Sunshine State. The Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus has asked the Florida Board of Dentistry to revoke his dental license, saying they are “concerned with Dr. Kablawi’s incendiary rhetoric and the potential danger it poses to his patients.”

Former State Rep. Joe Geller, who is from Miami, lambasted Kablawi over his sermon.

“This alarming and hateful speech is unacceptable and frightening,” Geller said, according to local news outlets. “Calling for the annihilation of an ethnic group amounts to genocide. Patients deserve to be protected from this violent and dangerous individual. This cannot be tolerated in a civilized society.”

The Jewish Caucus began calling for action after Florida state Rep. Randy Fine — the only Jewish Republican in the Legislature — wrote a letter to the Florida Board of Dentistry, asking the body to suspend Kablawi’s license.

“North Miami where Dentist Kablawi practices contains many Jewish residents, none of whom could be considered safe in Imam Kablawi’s dentist chair, where he could personally implement what he is asking Allah to do,” Fine wrote to Jose Mellado, chair of the Board of Dentistry. “Practicing medicine in Florida is a privilege — not a right — and as the chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, I call on you to immediately suspend Dr. Kablawi’s license and commence a thorough investigation of his practice.”

Fine noted that Kablawi has made antisemitic comments calling for violence against Jews on multiple occasions, including just one month after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

BREAKING: Rep. Randy Fine calls on Florida Board of Dentistry to Suspend Dental License of Muslim Imam Dentist openly advocating for violence against his Jewish patients. @MEMRIReports @ShirionOrg @StopAntisemites pic.twitter.com/pTNNmBrvbI

— Randy Fine (@VoteRandyFine) May 13, 2024

Kablawi said he will fight efforts to take away his dental license.

“To target my license that I worked hard for and kept in good standing for 20 years, it’s an under-the-belt shot and it’s unethical,” he told NBC6.

Since Hamas’ atrocities of Oct. 7, there has been a global surge in antisemitism, with several countries reporting record numbers of antisemitic incidents.

The Anti-Defamation League released a report last month showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching an all-time high. Most of the outrages occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, antisemitic incidents have also skyrocketed to record highs in several other countries around the world, especially in Europe.

In October, Cygnal conducted a survey indicating 57.5 percent of Muslim American respondents felt that Hamas was at least “somewhat justified” in attacking Israel “as part of their struggle for a Palestinian state.”