The Islamic Center of Rockland on Sunday condemned an antisemitic sermon given by a guest imam who was filmed calling Hamas the “people of Allah” and prayed to God to “guide their shooting” and “destroy the Zionist Jews.”

"We unequivocally condemn these statements,” the mosque said in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday. “The Islamic Center of Rockland stands firmly against anti-Semitism and any rhetoric that incites violence or hatred, as we have for the 35 years we have operated in this county alongside other faiths.” 

The condemnation came shortly after the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Rockland County, combined with other Jewish organizations, denounced the hateful sermon live streamed on August 9th.

The language the imam used “not only fuels hatred and divides neighbors, but can lead to harmful real world consequences,” Scott Richman, a regional director at the Anti-Defamation League, said in the statement.

The Islamic Center of Rockland is near to a number of large Haredi communities including Monsey and Chestnut Ridge. Joel Petlin, Superintendent of the Kiryas Joel School District and a Rockland resident, tweeted the Islamic Center’s apology the day after having tweeted, “I'm unfortunately used to seeing hateful videos of Imams delivering Friday sermons in the Middle East, England and Dearborn, Michigan. I'm just not used to seeing one coming from someone who lives and works just a few miles from my Rockland County, New York home.”

Congressmember Mike Lawler and former Congressmember Mondaire Jones, Lawler’s Democratic opponent in the upcoming election, both condemned the imam’s words. State senator Bill Weber and his Democratic opponent, former state senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, also condemned the language used.