A disturbing video apparently filmed at an Islamic centre in Pennsylvania has been doing the rounds on social media.
The footage shows children celebrating 'Ummah Day' with anti-Jewish songs and poems, according to MEMRI, a non-profit that provides English language translations of Middle Eastern media.
The kids can be heard listening to an Arabic song which reportedly says: "Those who reject oppression are the ones who assert their existence, and they eliminate injustice from the land of the Arabs."
"Glorious steeds call us and lead us… to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The blood of martyrs protects us."
There are also lines saying, "take us, oh ships, until we liberate our lands, until we reach our shores and crush the treacherous ones" and "my Islam is calling, who is going to heed its call? Rise, oh righteous ones!"
A young girl was filmed reading a poem praising martyrs who fought for the Palestinian cause: "Martyrs sacrificed their lives without hesitation. They attained paradise, and the scent of musk emanates from their bodies."
"Will Jerusalem be their capital city, of will it be a hotbed for cowards?" she asked.
Another young girl was translated as reading: "We will defend the land of divine guidance with our bodies."
"We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque," she said, referring to one of the holiest places in Islam, which is located on Jerusalem's Temple Mount and is the flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
MEMRI said such incidents are not "isolated" and that they are happening in "major centres" of the country.
The two-minute clip is said to have appeared on the Facebook page of the Muslim American Society (MAS) Islamic Centre in Philadelphia on 22 April. However, it was not available on the centre's page as of the time of publishing.
The shocking footage has drawn the outrage of the Jewish community. The Philadelphia-based Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, issued a statement condemning what happened in the Islamic centre: "If the translation is accurate, this incident is extremely disturbing. Children should not be indoctrinated to hate. These young people should never have been asked to make speeches and dance and lip-sync to songs that glorify violence against Jews and the State of Israel."
The Muslim American Society admitted that not all of the songs were "properly vetted". "This was an unintended mistake and an oversight in which the centre and the students are remorseful. MAS will conduct an internal investigation to ensure this does not occur again," the non-profit said in a statement.
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The MAS, which sees its mission in moving people to "strive for God-consciousness, liberty and justice", had recently denounced the San Diego synagogue shooting, in which a 60-year-old Jewish worshipper was killed.
"Hate has no place in our society. In an era where we've seen an increase in hate crimes, including rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, we must stand tall together in solidarity," it said.
According to a recent report by the Anti-Defamation League, Pennsylvania is the fifth-highest state in the nation in terms of reported anti-Semitic incidents (89 incidents in 2018, including two cases of physical assault one of which was the Pittsburg synagogue shooting).
