Calls to "one day kill all Jews" were among a series of threats and taunts made during a rally Friday joined by leaders of Egypt's Muslims Brotherhood at Cairo's most respected Sunni mosque.
The rally, coming as the Brotherhood is poised to gain parliamentary control in Egyptian elections this week, was in protest of the anniversary 1947 United Nations Partition Plan that led to Israel's establishment the following year.
Video posted online shows hundreds of people at the Al-Azhar mosque chanted "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews. The Army of Muhammad is right here." That is a taunt invoking a 7th Century victory by Muhammad's army over the Jews.
Israeli journalist Eldad Beck was present at the rally and wrote an eyewitness account for Ynet News.
"Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine," Beck wrote. "Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that 'one day we shall kill all the Jews' was uttered at the site. Meanwhile, businessmen in the crowd were urged to invest funds in Jerusalem in order to prevent the acquisition of land and homes by Jews.
"Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: 'Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come.'"
The mosque is a part of Al-Azhar University, the Jerusalem Post reports, and is considered among the most influential centers of Sunni thought in the world.
An Egyptian news account omitted the genocidal calls against Jews, but cited Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian saying Al-Azhar organized the event along with the Union of Muslim Scholars. Brotherhood members were invited and participated, El-Erian said.
That article cited another chant by rally participants: "Islam regains its pride or we die as martyrs."
Such violent rhetoric should not come as a surprise to those who have followed the behavior of Brotherhood leaders over the years. The Union of Muslim Scholars, El-Erian said helped organize the event, is led by Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
He has prayed for a chance to kill a Jew before he dies. And, in a 2009 sermon described in a U.S. diplomatic cable, he condemned Jews for spreading "corruption in the land" and called for Allah to "count their numbers and kill them, down to the very last one."