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A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. [1] [2] [3] The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial, and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade; mainstream historians, such as Saul S. Friedman, have said Jews had a negligible role. [4] [5] [6] The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated. [7]
The Anti-Defamation League, [8] the Southern Poverty Law Center, [9] the American Jewish Committee, [10] [11] the American Jewish Congress, [12] and the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism [13] have condemned the Nation of Islam as antisemitic.
Scholars of comparative religion have argued that the Nation of Islam is antisemitic and advocates Holocaust denial. For instance, in the Global Journal of Classical Theology, Professor Richard V. Pierard writes:
Holocaust denial is a stock in trade of Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Skinhead...and one also finds it in Black hate groups like Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, some Afrocentrist writers, and in Arab anti-Israel rhetoric. The common thread running through all these manifestations is anti-Semitism; that is, hatred or dislike of Jews. [14]
A report by the Stephen Roth Institute for studying Anti-Semitism and Racism states the following:
Louis Farrakhan, and the Nation of Islam (NOI), which he heads, have a long, well-documented record of hate-filled and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Over the years, NOI ministers and representatives have regularly expressed anti-Semitic, anti-white, anti-homosexual and anti-Catholic sentiments in their speeches. Furthermore, The Final Call, the NOI's official organ, reflects the anti-Semitism of Farrakhan and his organization. [13]
British Home Secretary Jack Straw and lawyers for the Home Office have also described Farrakhan's views as "anti-semitic and racially divisive", and as a result he has been banned from the United Kingdom since 1986. [15]
A Catholic magazine, This Rock, has described the Nation of Islam as both antisemitic and anti-Catholic. [16]
A number of prominent secular humanists have written that the NOI is antisemitic. Hating in the Name of God, by Benjamin Radford (Council for Secular Humanism website), and Madeline Weld's address to the 1995 annual meeting of the Humanist Association of Canada are examples of such criticism.[ citation needed ]
Louis Farrakhan said in a 2014 speech that "the satanic Jews that control everything, and mostly everybody, if they are your enemy, you must, must be somebody." [17] In an October 2018 speech, Farrakhan referred to Jews as termites: "So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you know what they do, call me an anti-Semite. Stop it, I’m anti-Termite." [18]
For many years certain Nation of Islam (NOI) ministers have been preaching that "the Jews" control the American economy and the world economy. Statements to this effect can be found in its newspaper The Final Call and in speeches given in their temples and on college campuses.
For example, the Dallas Observer recorded this dialogue between Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and an audience to which he was speaking:
Farrakhan: "Is the Federal Reserve owned by the government?"
Audience: "No."
Farrakhan: "Who owns the federal reserve?"
Audience: "Jews."
Farrakhan: "The same year they set up the IRS, they set up the FBI. And the same year they set up the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith...It could be a coincidence...[I want] to see Black intellectuals free...I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community." [19]
The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews is a book published in 1991 by the Nation of Islam. The book alleges that Jews dominated the Atlantic slave trade. [20] The book has been labeled an antisemitic canard by historians including Saul S. Friedman, who has written that Jews had a minimal role in New World slave trade. [5] Henry Louis Gates, head of the department of Afro-American studies at Harvard University, called the book "the bible of new anti-Semitism" and added, "The book massively misinterprets the historical record, largely through a process of cunningly selective quotations of often reputable sources." [21]
Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Khalid Abdul Muhammad, and other NOI ministers have been frequently critical of what they perceive as the Jewish control over African American society, their beliefs frequently approaching conspiracy theory. For example:
We are not giving them [Jews] power by getting into the debate, they already have power. They control Black intellectuals, they control Black politicians, Black preachers, Black artists—they control Black life. I’m not against Jews, I’m against control by any group, of us...I don’t know how you can talk about Black liberation without confronting that and not talk about those who stifle Black thought, freedom of Black liberation. [22]
Farrakhan gave a speech attacking then National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and presidential advisor (later Chicago mayor) Rahm Emanuel. In regards to their names, he stated that "Every Jewish person that is around the president is a dual citizen of Israel and the United States of America...and sometimes, we have to raise the question, Are you more loyal to the state of Israel than you are to the best interests of the United States of America?" [23]
Some NOI ministers have called Jews bloodsuckers. For example, in his Saviours' Day speech in Chicago, Illinois, February 25, 1996, Louis Farrakhan stated:
And you do with me as is written, but remember that I have warned you that Allah will punish you. You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell. But I warn you in the name of Allah, you would be wise to leave me alone. But if you choose to crucify me, know that Allah will crucify you.
One former NOI minister Khalid Abdul Muhammed referred to Jews as bloodsuckers.
I called them Jews bloodsuckers. I'm not going to change that. Our lessons talk about the bloodsuckers of the poor in the Supreme Wisdom of the Nation of Islam. It's that old no-good Jew, that old imposter Jew, that old hooked-nose, bagel-eating, lox-eating, Johnny-come-lately perpetrating a fraud, just crawled out of the caves and hills of Europe, so-called damn Jew. . . and I feel everything I'm saying up here is kosher.
— Speech in Baltimore, MD, February 19, 1994
Quotes from Khalid Abdul Muhammad, the spokesperson until 1993:
Who are the slumlords in the Black community? The so-called Jews... Who is it sucking our blood in the Black community? A white imposter Jew. [24]
Malcolm X, a member of the Nation of Islam until he left in 1964, [25] made antisemitic statements and is thought to have held antisemitic beliefs. [26] [27] His autobiography contains several antisemitic charges and caricatures of Jews. [28] Alex Haley, the autobiography's co-author, had to rewrite some of the book in order to eliminate a number of negative statements about Jews in the manuscript. [29] Malcolm X believed that the fabricated antisemitic text Protocols of the Elders of Zion , was authentic and introduced it to NOI members, while blaming Jewish people for "perfecting the modern evil" of neo-colonialism. [30] [31] He was a leading figure in reshaping the black community's perception of The Holocaust, engaging in Holocaust trivialization and claiming that the Jews "brought it on themselves". [32]
In 1961, Malcolm X spoke at a NOI rally alongside George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell claimed that there was overlap between Black nationalism and White supremacy. [33] Even after his departure from the NOI and during the last months of his life, Malcolm X's statements about Jews continued to include antisemitic images of Jews as "bloodsucker[s]". [34]
The Nation of Islam has repeatedly denied charges of antisemitism. [35] Louis Farrakhan has stated, "The ADL .. uses the term 'anti-Semitism' to stifle all criticism of Zionism and the Zionist policies of the State of Israel and also to stifle all legitimate criticism of the errant behavior of some Jewish people toward the non-Jewish population." [36]
In a letter responding to Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Director Abraham Foxman's insistence that black leaders distance themselves from the Nation of Islam, hip hop mogul Russell Simmons wrote: "Simply put, you are misguided, arrogant, and very disrespectful of African Americans and most importantly your statements will unintentionally or intentionally lead to a negative impression of Jews in the minds of millions of African Americans," he continued, "For over 50 years, Minister Farrakhan has labored to resurrect the downtrodden masses of African Americans up out of poverty and self-destruction" and indicated that he had personally witnessed Farrakhan affirm, 'A Muslim can not hate a Jew. We are all members of the family of Abraham and all of us should maintain dialogue and mutual respect.'" [37]
Farrakhan stated at the Mosque Maryam in Chicago on March 19, 1995 that the Jews financed the Holocaust:
German Jews financed Hitler right here in America...International bankers financed Hitler and poor Jews died while big Jews were at the root of what you call the Holocaust...Little Jews died while big Jews made money. Little Jews [were] being turned into soap while big Jews washed themselves with it. Jews [were] playing violin, Jews [were] playing music, while other Jews [were] marching into the gas chambers. [38]
Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a former advisor to Farrakhan, stated that the Jews deserved to be exterminated by the Nazis. Echoing white supremacist propaganda, he holds that Jewish people undermined German society, and thus deserved to be targeted by the Nazis.
You see, everybody always talk about Hitler exterminating 6 million Jews...but don't nobody ever asked what did they do to Hitler? What did they do to them folks? They went in there, in Germany, the way they do everywhere they go, and they supplanted, they usurped, they turned around, and a German, in his own country, would almost have to go to a Jew to get money. They had undermined the very fabric of the society. [39]
The Nation of Islam's official position does not deny the Jewish holocaust. Tim Russert, during a 1997 Meet the Press interview with Louis Farrakhan, posed the question, "Do you believe there was a Holocaust in which 6 million Jews perished?"
Of course I believe that Jews perished in Germany, and (those) same Jews perished in Germany while the Pope Pius XII looked the other way and the government of America looked the other way. Now there is reconciliation between Jews and Catholics and the government of the United States. What is wrong with reconciliation between those who looked the other way when my fathers were being brought into America as slaves, and to this very moment have not received justice? I think atonement, reconciliation, and responsibility should be the watch word for this time, and I am willing to sit down with any who wish to discuss atonement, reconciliation, and responsibility. [40]
Elijah Muhammad's pro-separation views were compatible with those of some white supremacist organizations in the 1960s. [41] He reportedly met with leaders of the Ku Klux Klan in 1961 to work toward the purchase of farmland in the Deep South. [42] He eventually established Temple Farms, now Muhammad Farms, on a 5,000-acre (20 km2) tract in Terrell County, Georgia. [43] George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party once called Muhammad "the Hitler of the black man." [44] At the 1962 Saviours' Day celebration in Chicago, Rockwell addressed Nation of Islam members. Many in the audience booed and heckled him and his men, for which Muhammad rebuked them in the April 1962 issue of Muhammad Speaks. [45]
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.
Antisemitism has increased greatly in the Arab world since the beginning of the 20th century, for several reasons: the dissolution and breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; European influence, brought about by Western imperialism and Arab Christians; Nazi propaganda and relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world; resentment over Jewish nationalism; the rise of Arab nationalism; and the widespread proliferation of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist conspiracy theories.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans. While describing itself as Islamic and using Islamic terminologies, its religious tenets differ substantially from orthodox Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterize it as a new religious movement.
Louis Farrakhan is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C., and for his rhetoric that has been widely denounced as antisemitic and racist.
Scholars have studied and debated Muslim attitudes towards Jews, as well as the treatment of Jews in Islamic thought and societies throughout the history of Islam. Parts of the Islamic literary sources give mention to certain Jewish groups present in the past or present, which has led to debates. Some of this overlaps with Islamic remarks on non-Muslim religious groups in general.
The history of antisemitism, defined as hostile actions or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group, goes back many centuries, with antisemitism being called "the longest hatred". Jerome Chanes identifies six stages in the historical development of antisemitism:
Religious antisemitism is aversion to or discrimination against Jews as a whole based on religious doctrines of supersession, which expect or demand the disappearance of Judaism and the conversion of Jews to other faiths. This form of antisemitism has frequently served as the basis for false claims and religious antisemitic tropes against Judaism. Sometimes, it is called theological antisemitism.
Khalid Abdul Muhammad was an African-American Muslim minister and activist who became a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam and later the New Black Panther Party. After a racially inflammatory 1993 speech at Kean College, Muhammad was condemned and removed from his position in the Nation of Islam by Louis Farrakhan. He was also censured by both Houses of the United States Congress.
New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s.
The Final Call is a newspaper published in Chicago. It was founded in 1979 by Minister Louis Farrakhan and serves as the official newspaper of the Nation of Islam. The magazine acts as the group's tool to spread their agenda, goals and view of world events and natural disasters.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a black nationalist religious group founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. While it identifies itself as promoting a form of Islam, its beliefs differ considerably from mainstream Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterize it as a new religious movement. It operates as a centralized and hierarchical organization. It has been characterized by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League as a black supremacist hate group.
Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are "sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion.
Historians continue to study and debate the extent of antisemitism in American history and how American antisemitism has similarities and distinctions with its European counterpart.
Antisemitism, the prejudice or discrimination against Jews, has had a long history since the ancient times. While antisemitism had already been prevalent in ancient Greece and Roman Empire, its institutionalization in European Christianity after the destruction of the ancient Jewish cultural center in Jerusalem caused two millennia of segregation, expulsions, persecutions, pogroms, genocides of Jews, which culminated in the 20th-century Holocaust in Nazi German-occupied European states, where 67% European Jews were murdered.
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes. The number of hate crimes against Jews may be underreported, as in the case for many other targeted groups.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international non-governmental organization that was founded to combat antisemitism, bigotry and discrimination. ADL is also known for its pro-Israel advocacy. Its current CEO is Jonathan Greenblatt. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants. Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.
African Americans and Jewish Americans have interacted throughout much of the history of the United States. This relationship has included widely publicized cooperation and conflict, and—since the 1970s—it has been an area of significant academic research. Cooperation during the Civil Rights Movement was strategic and significant, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews is a three-volume work of pseudo-scholarship, published by the Nation of Islam. The first volume, which was released in 1991, asserts that Jews dominated the Atlantic slave trade. The Secret Relationship has been widely criticized for being antisemitic and for failing to provide an objective analysis of the role of Jews in the slave trade. The American Historical Association issued a statement condemning claims that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic slave trade, and other historians such as Wim Klooster and Seymour Drescher concluded that the role of Jews in the overall Atlantic slave trade was in fact minimal.
Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century, most Jews in France, like most Muslims in France, are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population, followed by Marseilles, which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s, surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.
This timeline of antisemitism chronicles the facts of antisemitism, hostile actions or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group, in the 21st century. It includes events in the history of antisemitic thought, actions taken to combat or relieve the effects of antisemitism, and events that affected the prevalence of antisemitism in later years. The history of antisemitism can be traced from ancient times to the present day.