Lawmaker asks for dentist to lose license over death of Jews call

A Florida legislator has asked the chairman of the state dental board to suspend a dentist, who also is an imam, for making threatening comments, including calling for the murder of Jewish people, during a sermon at a mosque in Miami that was broadcast on social media.

Florida State Rep. Randy Fine, chair of the state health and human services committee, wants the dental license of Dr. Fadi Kablawi, an imam at Masjid As Sunnah An Nabawiyyah in Miami, suspended after a sermon he gave on April 26 went public on Facebook.

Dr. Fadi Kablawi. Image courtesy of Masjid As Sunnah An Nabawiyyah North Miami/Facebook.

During the talk, Kablawi said "Oh Allah, annihilate them, for they are no match for you. Oh Allah, annihilate the brothers of apes and pigs" in reference to Jewish people. Kablawi referred to the Israeli military as "worse than Nazis" and accused it of stealing and trafficking the organs of Palestinians, according to a translation by MEMRI TV, the media arm of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

As of the date of this reporting, Kablawi's North Miami dental practice was listed as permanently closed.

In a letter to Dr. Jose R. Mellado, the Florida Board of Dentistry chairman, Fine, the only Jewish Republican in the Florida House of Representatives, wrote, "North Miami where Dentist Kablawi practices contains many Jewish residents, none of whom could be considered safe in Imam Kablawi's dental chair, where he could personally implement what he is asking Allah to do."

Also, Fine referenced other occasions in which Kablawi reportedly used antisemitic rhetoric during other lectures at the mosque. On March 8, Kablawi purportedly said, "Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the accursed Zionists." About a month after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Kablawi reportedly said during another speech at the mosque, "Oh Allah, show us the black days that you inflict upon the Jews."

Due to these comments, Fine stated in the letter, "Practicing medicine in Florida is a privilege -- not a right -- and as the Chairman of the Florida House Health and Human Services Committee, I call on you to immediately suspend Dr. Kablawi's license and commence a thorough investigation into his practice. The lives of some of Florida's Jews could hang in the balance."