…Continued from the previous article, going through five of the heavily rotated accusations against the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
“Farrakhan is anti-Israel” People who are accused of being “anti-Semitic” often are said to be such due to their opinions on Israeli policies. In 2002, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now asked former Israeli Prime Minister Shulamit Aloni a question pertaining to the charge of anti-semitism and why it is imposed on those in the United States who express “dissent” over Israel’s policies. Shulamit Aloni answered,
“Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic. And the organization is strong and has a lot of money, and the ties between Israel and the American Jewish establishment are very strong and they are strong in this country, as you know. And they have power, which is okay. They are talented people and they have power and money, and the media and other things, and their attitude is ‘Israel, my country right or wrong,’ identification. And they are not ready to hear criticism. And it’s very easy to blame people who criticize certain acts of the Israeli government as anti-Semitic and to bring up the Holocaust, and the suffering of the Jewish people, and that is justify everything we do to the Palestinians.”
Israel is not above criticism, and neither is the United States, for that matter. If you truly love your country, then you want to be able to see it do right by its people, as well as others. You want to give constructive criticism in order to advance your national life. If you are silent and satisfied with tyrannical behavior, then you are easily misled to believe that those who speak against injustice are committing a crime worse than actual oppression. Minister Farrakhan does not approve of the wicked policies of Israel. If him speaking the truth about unrighteous governments is being “anti-Semitic”, then it calls into question if not being anti-Semitic means to be satisfied with oppression.
“Farrakhan called Jews termites.” This lie is referring to Minister Farrakhan’s 2018 Holy Day of Atonement Address at the Aretha Franklin Pavilion, where he stated the following:
“When they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me an anti-Semite; stop it I’m anti-termite. I don’t know anything about hating anyone because of their religious preference.”
When the media heard that, they blew it out of proportion. As we have been mentioning throughout these series of articles, context is everything. After the Minister said that he was “anti-termite”, he spoke directly to the issue of anti-blackness. He said:
“You cannot find one Jew that one who follows me has plucked one hair from his head. You haven’t found us defiling a synagogue. Our Qur’an teaches us if we see something like that stop it. They call me anti-Semitic. No, you are anti-Black. Now I’m talking to the anti-Black White folk. Why do you lay around Black people like the 10 Percent in our Lessons?”
He makes clear his stance on actual anti-semitism by stating our obligation as Muslims to respect people from all religions. He also makes a distinction between those who are following the law of Moses and those who claim righteousness but are using their power and influence to take advantage of others. These individuals fall under the category of “The 10 percent” who are called in our Lessons, the bloodsuckers of the poor. They are “the rich; the slave-makers of the poor, who teach the poor lies.” The 10 percent in our lessons are not identified by race or religion but by actions, therefore, those who are bloodsuckers of the poor can be anyone.
The Minister is anti-anyone who takes advantage of the black community and eats away at the structure of our organizations and movements so that we never make true progress. It is no secret the exploitation of black people by people of other communities, including the Jewish community. Is it anti-Semitic for making known those who are anti-black? The media turned the Minister’s words around and made it look like he called the entire Jewish community “termites” when that wasn’t the case. This was not the first time the word “termite” has ever been said either. “Termite” is actually a term that has been widely used on a political scale. People such as Michael Reagan and Van Jones, for instance, have both used the word “termites” to describe a group of people, or certain policies in place that are eating away at the structure of the American government. Yet, the media never exploited their use of the word in the same manner as they have done with Minister Farrakhan. Why is it that people are so obsessed with this man and purposely twist his words?
We are witnessing the perpetual lies against Minister Farrakhan. For decades, he has been accused of being anti-semitic for speaking the truth and calling out anti-blackness wherever it comes from. Spreading false information about him, and refusing to do the research that proves him innocent, is dangerous. We have to be willing to look into the information before judging or ultimately rejecting our Minister. He is not an anti-semite. He is not a hater of Jewish people, or anyone else. Failure to look into the news that unrighteous people bring truly harms us in ignorance.
