“Zionist Business”: New Zealand Muslim Blames Israel for Mosque Shooting

Well, it didn’t take long for hate, bigotry, and religious extremism to replace the grief and love that were supposed to come out of the tragic Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand. While the world insisted that President Trump, “whiteness,” conservatism, and anything else that could be blamed on the usual suspects were responsible for motivating the shooting, Muslims on the ground apparently have their eyes on a different suspect. And yeah, it’s the one you’d probably expect.

At a rally for the victims in Auckland, a group called Love Aotearoa Hate Racism turned the blame on Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency comparable to the U.S.’s FBI or CIA. In a speech, the chairman of the Mt Roskill Masjid E Umar, said he had some questions about where the shooter got his funding. And Ahmed Bhamji told the crowd that he also had his suspicions.

“I really want to say one thing today. Do you think this guy was alone… I want to ask you – where did he get the funding from?” Bhamji said. “I stand here and I say I have a very very strong suspicion that there’s some group behind him and I am not afraid to say I feel Mossad is behind this.”

“It’s the truth,” yelled some idiot from the crowd. “Israel is behind this. That’s right!”

Asked by Newshub about his remarks, Bhamji was unapologetic.

“Mossad is up to all these things,” he said. “When I talk about Mossad, why should the Jews be upset about it? Give me an answer.”

Mossad, the agency, took the news of their involvement in stride. On Twitter, they noticed that they were the number one trending topic, writing: “Thanks, crazy guy from New Zealand!”

And you know, maybe that’s all it is. Just one Islamic fool who hasn’t read enough books to balance his out infatuation with the writings of Muhammad.

On the other hand, anti-Semitism and Islam go together like peanut butter and jelly, and every time one of their ilk makes a statement like this, it reminds all of us that this is not the open, welcoming religion of peace that it claims to be. Whether it is Ilhan Omar dredging up anti-Semitic conspiracy theories from a generation ago or Louis Farrakhan calling Jews “termites,” the venom of hatred is always brimming near the surface of the Muslim mainstream.

Even as we sympathize with the victims of this attack, that truth should not completely escape us.