RUTHFULLY YOURS

Sofian Zakkout wears a number of hats. First, he is the director of a prominent South Florida Muslim organization, the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA). Second, he sits on boards of civic groups, including those devoted to fighting crime, such as the local chapters of Citizens’ Crime Watch and Crime Stoppers, whose leadership safeguards him. And third, he’s a raving anti-Semite who embraces terrorist groups and preaches violence. In 2016, he has started off the year in true form by targeting Jews on social media.

The night of Monday, January 11th, was a hate-filled one for Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout. On this night, he aimed his wrath at the Jewish community.

He began by posting onto Facebook side-by-side photos of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American Jew and former National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Abraham Foxman (shown clawing his hand). Under the photos, along with lines from the Bible intentionally misquoted to make Jews appear as enslavers and murderers, the following is read (with some grammatical repairs): “[T]ell [me] again why my tax money along with most Americans are giving [these] pigs $18 billion annually in financial aid to [these] f**ks in Israel?”

Zakkout attacking the ADL’s Foxman may be retaliation for a July 2010 ADL report condemning Zakkout and his group AMANA for featuring what the ADL called a “venomous” anti-Semitic, anti-Israel video on the AMANA website. The video was produced by and featured white supremacist leader David Duke. Zakkout has since posted a number of Duke videos on social media and has praised Duke as “a man to believe in!”

The Netanyahu/Foxman post, along with a similar one made by Zakkout also featuring Foxman, was taken from the horrifically anti-Semitic, pro-Hitler Facebook site of an individual named David Castillo.

Quotes made by Castillo on his site, include: “[T]he same sh*t Jews run and own everything! Buy a gun and lots of ammo and prepare to take them out, for debt can only be paid back by killing the f**ks who put [us] there;” “All Jews belong in hell with maggots because all they are is maggots!” “The only good Jew is a dead one;” and “I can only wish that a new hero like Adolf Hitler would take back Germany and finally get rid of the lizard bastards…”

After the Netanyahu/Foxman posting, Zakkout posted onto his Facebook page a video stating that the “End of Zionism,” meaning the destruction of Israel, “equals Peace.” Then, right after, Zakkout followed it up by posting another video, where he (Zakkout) stated above it, “Watch these pigs an[d] monkeys Israeli occupiers harassing and harming Palestinian women!” He signed it, “Sofian Zakkout.” In one scene on the video, all that can be viewed is a nicely dressed Israeli family, with a half-dozen children, merely walking together.”

This was not the first time Zakkout referred to Jews as “pigs” and “monkeys.” Just one month ago, in December, above a photo of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, who is a decorated veteran of many different wars and battles fought by Israel the last three-plus decades, Zakkout wrote in Arabic, “You’re a Jew, the grandson of a monkey and a pig.” And he signed it “Sofian.”

Mr. Zakkout’s hateful and frenzied rhetoric against Jews and others, during the past two years, has been overwhelming and constant.

In February 2015, over a graphic of deceased Hamas founders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, Zakkout wrote the following violent threat in Arabic, “It is an obligation to kill those who left our religion. It is an obligation to kill those who fight our religion and to intimidate our enemies and the enemies of the religion. Everything is from the Quran, not from me.” And he signed it “Sofian.”

In July 2014, after Zakkout had organized a pro-Hamas rally held outside the Israeli Consulate in Miami, where rally goers repeatedly screamed, “We are Hamas” and “Let’s go Hamas,” Zakkout wrote the following in Arabic on Facebook, above photos from the event: “Thank God, every day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel!” He signed it “Br. Sofian Zakkout.”

This past weekend, on January 23rd, Zakkout posted a video on social media that would have viewers believe that it is ISIS and al-Qaeda who are the good guys and that the US is, instead, the terrorist. The video states that those America is fighting overseas, who “are labeled insurgents or terrorists… are our brothers and sisters in the struggle for justice.” The same video describes the branches of the United States government as “those terrorist cells in Washington, DC, more commonly known as the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches.”

There is no doubt that Sofian Zakkout is a threat to the Jewish community and a threat to America. He despises the West and its freedoms but, at the same time, uses them to promote his messages of hate and incitement to violence.

Yet, even after all this, Zakkout is still embraced by important and influential segments of the community, including those organizations involved in fighting crime. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County. He is, as well, listed under “Officers, Directors, Trustees and Key Employees” in the tax releases for Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade County, for the years 2010 through 2014 (the most recent filing).

In a conversation with this author, which took place this past weekend, the President of Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers, Suzette Rice, claimed that Zakkout still sits on the Board of Directors for the group. According to Rice, there is no urgency to part ways with Zakkout. This, while Rice had previously assured this author that Zakkout would be removed.

Sofian Zakkout came to the United States as an immigrant in 1977 via Gaza and Kuwait. He has not only overstayed his welcome (and by a huge margin), but he has cynically exploited the United States’ democratic system to further his hate-filled agenda using organizations which are supposed to promote the public good. His deportation is long overdue.

If you are concerned about Sofian Zakkout, please contact the Miami FBI office by calling 754-703-2000 or by sending an email to Miami@ic.fbi.gov. To contact Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, call Carmen Caldwell at 305-470-1670 or send an email to carmen@citizenscrimewatch.org. To contact Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade, call Suzette Rice and Richard Masten at 305-471-6160 or send an email to rmasten@crimestoppersmiami.com. Please be respectful in any and all communications with these individuals and groups.

Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.