Belgian Politician Faces Party Sanctions for Defending Expelled Imam

The "unilateral decision" of Sammy Mahdi to withdraw the residence permit of Mohamed Toujgani and prohibit him from accessing the territory for the next 10 years, due in particular to a video dating back to 2009 but published in 2019 in which he called to burn "oppressive Zionists" is "iniquitous and totally unjustified," believes Ahmed El Khannouss (cdH). Also, he described this decision as a "deportation measure". According to him, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration is participating in "a mad race to compete with the right and the extreme right in Flanders". The elected official will explain that the statements of the main imam of the Al Khalil mosque in Molenbeek are "crude terms" referring to a "Zionist aggression against Gaza" which did not give rise to any legal proceedings, reports BX1.

The remarks of the humanist councilor provoked reactions from the president of the cdH, Maxime Prévot. "I personally consider that the use of the word ’deportation’ and the attempt to relativize the remarks of the person concerned on the Jews even if they were made ten years ago are clearly abusive. I imagine that the State Security had good reasons to recommend refusing access to the territory of this imam, although I do not know the content of the report," he said in an internal