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Muslim Chaplain at Toronto Hospital for Sick Children Eulogizes Founder of Hamas
Ayman Taher speaking at Palestine House in Toronto. Photo: Screenshot
An Islamic chaplain at Toronto’s main pediatric hospital was under scrutiny on Thursday after video emerged of him encouraging parents to show their children a clip of the founder of Hamas predicting the eventual destruction of the State of Israel.
The video clip — unearthed by the Washington, DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) — showed imam Ayman Taher praising remarks made by the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, in a 1998 interview with the Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.
“If you did not watch this, Google it and watch it, let your children watch it, because this is history that needs to be absorbed,” Taher — who serves as the Islamic chaplain of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and as imam of the Ibrahim Jame Mosque in Hamilton, Ontario — stated during a Dec. 18 speech at Palestine House in Toronto, the headquarters of a nonprofit organization that caters to the Palestinian community in Canada.
“When [Al Jazeera correspondent] Ahmed Mansour was asking Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, he said to him: ‘Sheikh…’ And the sheikh was barely out of Israeli jails, by the way. He said to him: ‘Do you believe that Israel will [be] finished?’ He [Yassin] said to him with confidence: ‘Yes.’ He [Mansour] said to him: ‘When do you think it will [be] finished?’ He [Yassin] said: ‘2027.’ And I said to myself: ‘How calm, how confident this man is.’”
Taher went on to eulogize Yassin, a wheelchair-bound cleric whom Israel held responsible for the deaths of several Israeli citizens and who was killed in a March 2004 Israeli strike on Gaza City.
“Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was handicapped,” Taher said. “The only thing that moved in him was his tongue. Allah gave him that faith to speak his mind and inspire the generations to come. In the most difficult time, when his own life was not safe, and we know how Allah has honored him.”
He said that when Yassin “was in jail and after that when he was living in very difficult times, he never had doubt that Allah is going to give victory to his religion, we [also] should not, because he has inspired millions.”
He then added: “I know I am getting myself in trouble now for speaking on social media. Who cares, because if [we] do not get ourselves into trouble, we will not be getting victory.”
On Thursday, one pro-Israel advocacy group claimed in a post on X/Twitter that the Hospital for Sick Children had suspended Taher pending an investigation.
“What is there to investigate? It’s right there in black and white,” one X/Twitter user responded. “Sick Kids that should have acted before now. Repugnant.”
The post Muslim Chaplain at Toronto Hospital for Sick Children Eulogizes Founder of Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meet in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, condemning the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressing concern about the risks of escalation, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump, for his part, described events in the Middle East as “very alarming,” according to Ushakov. But the two leaders said they do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran’s nuclear program, Ushakov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told the US leader that Russia was ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians after June 22, according to state news agency RIA.
Trump reiterated his interest in a speedy resolution to the conflict, the Kremlin aide said.
Putin also congratulated Trump on his 79th birthday.
The post Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says
FILE PHOTO: Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi attends a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2023. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks.
Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.
A senior official of US President Donald Trump’s administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sunday’s talks had been cancelled.
Washington, however, remained committed to the negotiations and hoped “the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.
The post Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending
USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to negotiate over its nuclear program.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
The post Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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