Nation of Islam and Antisemitism - Response To Charges of Antisemitism

Response To Charges of Antisemitism

The Nation of Islam has repeatedly denied charges of antisemitism, and NOI leader 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."

In a letter responding to 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.'"

Jude Wanniski, a journalist and conservative commentator who worked as associate editor of The Wall Street Journal, was a supporter of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, and was the author of several controversial articles relating to Jewish issues. Before his death in 2005, he called for Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), to be fired.

In a memo to Howard P. Berkowitz, National Chair for the ADL, Wanniski stated, "I think you have to offer Abe Foxman an early retirement or flat out fire him...Abe (Foxman) has become drunk with power, swinging his weight around knowing he can label anyone who challenges him an anti-Semitic bigot." Jude Wanniski personally defended Minister Farrakhan and the believers in the Nation of Islam. Wanniski wrote, "I've met dozens of men and women who belong to the Nation of Islam, attended many of their conferences, and prayed with them in their Chicago mosque to the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. I've concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that there is not an ounce of anti-Semitism or bigotry in Farrakhan."

Wanniski put the focus on Abe Foxman, pointing out, "My conclusion is that Foxman is in the wrong, not Farrakhan, that the ADL has spent the last 15 years using its political and financial clout to demonize Farrakhan and financially destroy the Nation of Islam... the ADL, which has spent a fortune trying to destroy him and the financial underpinnings of his religious institution."

Wanniski also pointed at the one-sided media coverage of Farrakhan and the NOI. Wanniski wrote, "I can post a defense of Farrakhan on the Internet, as I do with this (memo) to you, but there is no major news outlet that would entertain such a defense, wary of being condemned by Foxman as an agent of hate—as he has done to NBC."

Despite the historic discord between the Jewish community and the Nation of Islam, a handful of Jewish leaders have declared that it is worth attempting to engage the Nation of Islam in dialogue to foster better relations. For example, Prominent Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of the Foundation For Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), held a private meeting with Minister Louis Farrakhan. Jewish leaders who engaged in this outreach stated that they hoped this would lead in a change of tone and content from NOI spokespeople in regards to the Jewish people. Since then, however, further attempts at dialogue have faltered.

Commenting on Rabbi Schneier's willingness to engage in dialogue with Farrakhan, black political commentator Cedric Muhammad wrote:

If the FFEU's mission of fostering direct, face-to-face dialogue between ethnic groups is a sincere one and is accepted by the Black community; and if the organization's leader, Rabbi Schneier can resist pressure from AIPAC and the ADL and continue to demonstrate an unusual degree of courage and openness in meeting with Black leaders selected and supported by the Black community, and not hand-picked by philanthropy and political parties; indeed, a better relationship between Blacks and Jews in America can be worked out in the near future.

During a 1991 speech at the University of Illinois, Farrakhan responding to the controversy between him and members of the Jewish community:

In my hands is a manuscript, brothers and sisters, that arose out of the controversy between myself and the Jewish community. I want to tell all of you I have never been antisemitic. I have never been a hater of Jews, nor am I now that, but I discovered in my tussle with them that they were on me because I had the nerve to pull the cover off of some deceitful practices that they practice on us and on others. And so they tried to make me the worst Black man in history. When they did that, some Muslims in the Nation rose up to defend me and went into libraries and did research and compiled a manuscript of over 300 pages from their own writings not from us. And not one scholar that we quote is an antisemite. Here are Jewish rabbis, Jewish scholars, Jewish writers. They document their own hand in the slave trade. They document their own hand in owning the ships, running the ships, buying and selling our fathers—it's here.