Chairman of the Mt Roskill Masjid E Umar, Ahmed Bhamji, attacked "Zionist business" and the Mossad as those responsible for the shooting spree in Christchurch New Zealand that left 49 Muslim worshipers dead, News Hub reported.
New Zealand mosque chairman: “I am not afraid to say I feel Mossad is behind [the mass murder of Muslims in Christchurch]” pic.twitter.com/IZis0Tf4u7
— John-Paul Pagano (@johnpaulpagano) March 26, 2019
Bhamji was speaking at a rally held in Auckland's Aotea Square.
One person shouted his consent saying "Israel is behind this!"
New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses called the statements "dangerous lies" and said they "put the Jewish community at risk."
Masjid stood by his statement when contacted by News Hub: "Mossad is up to all these things," he said.
The alleged shooter behind the attack is Australian citizen Brenton Tarrant, who wrote a manifesto in which he said his inspiration was Norwegian Neo-Nazi Anders Breivik.
In 2011, Breivik massacred 77 people, shooting to death 69 participants in a summer camp on a Norwegian island, and killed eight others by detonating a van bomb in the middle of Oslo.