WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / August 3, 2018 / On June 28, 2018, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released its translated clip of a sermon delivered in Arabic by Mohamed Tatai, then-imam of the Mosquée Ennour in Toulouse, France and currently leading imam at the newly inaugurated Grand Mosque of Toulouse, as well as president, since 2005, of the Circle for Civil Dialogue, a nonprofit aiming to "facilitate dialogue between citizens on a social-cultural level."

In the sermon, on December 15, 2017, Tatai recounted a well-known hadith about what will happen in the battle between the Muslims and the Jews at the end of days and added that Israel would soon come to an end. The MEMRI TV clip translating Imam Tatai's sermon in Toulouse was widely covered by the French media and led to denunciation, legal complaints, and action by officials, public figures, and French Jewish groups, and to the opening of an investigation. It also prompted responses by Tatai, defense of him by French and Algerian Muslim leaders - and then a reversal to "strong condemnation." According to a YouTube video clip posted by the Grand Mosque of Toulouse, titled "Our Imam Bravely Renews With The Jewish Community!" Tatai said in his July 6, 2018 sermon that his remarks had been taken out of context and included no incitement to violence.

MEMRI research and translation efforts are an increasingly costly endeavor, and as a nonprofit organization, its accomplishments are made possible only by its supporters, donors, and contributors. Producing MEMRI TV clips demands extensive and advanced technology and human expertise - from monitoring, recording, and reviewing raw programming to translating, captioning, and uploading clips. MEMRI asks for help to continue this work through tax-deductible donations to the MEMRI Summer Campaign.

About The Lantos Antisemitism Documentation Project:

The Lantos Antisemitism Documentation Project documents anti-semitic themes in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, and Turkish newspaper reports, editorials, and other media sources. This project maintains the largest archive in the world of translated material from the Middle East from the past decade. In 2009, MEMRI, in conjunction with The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights, dedicated the Lantos Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial Archives, which will be the repository of MEMRI's Antisemitism Documentation Project.

About MEMRI:

Exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, MEMRI bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.

Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish and Hebrew.

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SOURCE: MEMRI