New Orleans Terrorist’s Hometown Imam: Jews Have Created ‘Havoc Wherever They Went’

Another imam of a mosque near the home of the suspected ISIS member behind the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans went on an anti-Semitic rant this summer where he accused Jews of “creating havoc everywhere.”

Fifteen people were killed and 35 were injured when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed a white pickup truck through a crowd in a blocked-off area of the French Quarter before opening fire. Jabbar, who is an American citizen and Army veteran and was in possession of an ISIS flag, was killed by law enforcement at the scene. 

The Houston Masjid Bilal, which is affiliated with the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH), is located close to Jabbar’s home.

In a video shared and partially translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Imam M. ElFarooqui delivered a sermon at the mosque in August 2024, where he spoke about a group of Jews who were forbidden by Allah to fish on Saturday, and instead used trenches to catch the fish passively.


He stated Jews were punished for the act and said that Allah turned some of them into monkeys, pigs, and rats. 

“Do we think that Allah is not watching us here? That’s what the Jews thought. They thought Allah was watching them only in Jerusalem…so they went out everywhere on the face of this earth, started creating havoc everywhere.”

“Oh Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the hands of the plunderers,” ElFarooqui added, referring to the mount where the Jewish Temple once stood in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is under the control of the Jordanian Islamic Waqf, overseen by the government of Jordan.

MEMRI shared another video on Thursday of the mosque’s Imam Eiad Soudan going on an anti-Semitic tirade where he explains why he thinks Hitler killed Jews.

“Why does the whole world want them to stay in Palestine? Because if they don’t stay in Palestine, they will go back to their countries,” and “they like to take control of the economy, everywhere they go…That is why the other countries don’t want them back.”

“Until this guy Hitler, with the nice mustache, came to power, he became empowered and we all know what he did. By the way, Hitler hated the Israelites so bad because of the economy thing, they were in control of the economy.”


Shortly after the attack, Houston Masjid Bilal discouraged its members from talking to the media, and said “if approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH.”

The Daily Wire previously reported that CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said he was “happy to see” Gazans “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land” on October 7, the day Hamas massacred and kidnapped Israeli civilians. Awad added that Israel does not have the right to self-defense.

A CAIR spokesperson told The Daily Wire that CAIR has not yet assumed an official role of handling inquiries for Houston Masjid Bilal.

ISGH condemned the terror attack in a statement and encouraged people with relevant information to speak to authorities.

“This act of terror and pure evil has no place in our community in society,” the statement read. “ISGH encourages anyone with any relevant information to come forward and duly report to law enforcement. ISGH is in contact with authorities and relevant law enforcement agencies are accorded the fullest cooperation needed.”

An FBI spokesperson said on Thursday that Jabbar uploaded five videos online detailing his plans for terrorism and expressing support for ISIS.

“Jabbar explains that he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the quote ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” the FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said. “He states that he joined ISIS before this summer.”

The Islamic Society of Greater Houston did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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