An American imam who also serves as the executive director of a state branch of a well-known American Muslim rights and advocacy group claimed during a sermon that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be solved if “enough” Americans become Muslim, adding that certain types and groups of people should be dealt with by calling them to convert to Islam.
CAIR Official Dawud Walid in Detroit Friday Sermon: If Enough Americans Became Muslim the Issue of Palestine Would Be Solved - We Should Be Calling Jewish Voices for Peace, ‘Lefty Democrats’, and Candace Owens Types to Convert to Islam @CAIRNational @jvplive @RealCandaceO pic.twitter.com/25MzYD5Ybb
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 10, 2024
Dawud Walid, an imam and the executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), made these remarks during a Friday sermon at the Islamic Center of Detroit on September 20th. The sermon was streamed live on the Islamic Center’s YouTube channel.
"Our first concern when we are dealing with these Jewish Voices for Peace people, these lefty Democrats, or even some Candace Owens types should be calling them to [convert to Islam and to say:] 'There is no God, but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah' – for their salvation in this life and the next,” Walid said during his sermon.
Candace Owen’s is doing gods work. You’re a moron.
— ClownWorldPunk (@ClownWorldPunk) October 11, 2024
He referenced the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an American anti-Zionist Jewish organization, and Candace Owens, an American conservative commentator and pundit. Owens sparked public outrage for her antisemitic remarks last August, where she equated Jews with Marxists who wanted to rewrite history and even made unsubstantiated claims that Jews tried to assassinate the Russian czar in the 1880s under the guise of pogroms.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Voice for Peace, which regularly criticizes Israel, had found itself under fire for refusing to condemn Hamas following the October 7 attacks, where 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds of Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage. The group also invited controversy in 2017 for inviting a former PFLP member who was allegedly involved in a supermarket bombing in Jerusalem in 1969 that injured nine people.
Dawud Walid, CAIR: "Campus protests are an opportunity for us to invite people to join Islam..In one encampment, Jewish protesters joined us in our prayer...They need to be invited to Islam; this would be a big conquest for us...
Rounding up the sheep. pic.twitter.com/W21gUnyKNy— Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) May 13, 2024
The imam also referenced left-wing and progressive Democrats, who in recent years have been critical of Israel, particularly after the October 7 attacks, and have stood in solidarity with Palestinian advocacy groups.
Walid also lamented Muslims who prefer to treat people on a "transactional basis” by affirming things that are prohibited by Islam, such as issues concerning the LGBTQIA+ community, for the sake of social justice.
"If enough people in America become Muslim, the issue of Palestine is solved. But we like to treat people on a transactional basis of what we think we can get out of them. And even some of that engagement is wrong, affirming haram in the name of social justice. The 'Alphabet People' – L, G, B, T, Q, and so on... And these other things." Walid said.
