The Final Call

Farrakhan's challenge to the Jewish community goes unanswered

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‘I think most Black people pay no attention to what is said about Minister Farrakhan in the mainstream media. People are not blinded by the castigation of him.’ —Prof. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, University of Florida

In fact, during his June 26 speech, Minister Farrakhan offered to give his life if anyone could prove anything he said to be incorrect.

Minister Farrakhan sent a letter to the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham H. Foxman, as well as copies of the newly-released books by the Nation of Islam's Historical Research Department, “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews Volume Two” and “Jews Selling Blacks.”

Additionally, copies of the books and the letter were sent to all of the heads of the major influential Jewish organizations. In the letter, Minister Farrakhan wrote: “I did not write this with vitriol, hatred, bitterness or a spirit of vengeance, because One greater than you and me has permitted this for His own wise purposes.” He continues, “I have pleaded with you over the years for a sensible, intelligent dialogue. You have rejected me, and some Rabbis have given me terms for friendship that any self-respecting person could never accept. So with this truth in our hands and yours, and soon in the hands of tens of thousands, I again ask you for a dialogue.”

Predictably, claims of anti-Semitism were leveled at the Minister and the Nation of Islam, however, none of the Jewish organizational leaders have proven any of the assertions made during his Atlanta message, nor any of the content in the books to be erroneous.

Acknowledging receipt of the books and letter, Mr. Foxman, on June 29 called Minister Farrakhan's words “obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained.” Following suit, in a June 30 press statement, the American Jewish Committee also denounced Min. Farrakhan's letter as a “hate letter” and called it “virulently anti-Semitic.”

Strangely, despite the fact that tens of thousands heard Minister Farrakhan's speech titled “Who are the Real Children of Israel?” in which he introduced over 600 pages of documentation contained in the two books, no articles appeared in the “mainstream” media until the ADL's June 29 press release. After that, an internet search turned up over 300 articles from news agencies across the U.S. and internationally.

Of those articles circulating, none have delved into the research and a majority of them appear to have repeated the baseless attacks from the ADL and Mr. Foxman.

According to Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, a professor of Islam and African American Religion at the University of Florida, this is part of a strategy to make Minister Farrakhan persona non-grata so others will pre-judge him before listening to what he has to say.

“Minister Farrakhan has been denigrated, he has been viciously attacked for years, and this is one of the primary weapons used,” said Dr. Simmons. “This is very unfortunate, but I think most Black people pay no attention to what is said about Minister Farrakhan in the mainstream media. People are not blinded by the castigation of him,” she said.

An internal ADL document titled “Mainstreaming Anti-Semitism: The Legitimation of Louis Farrakhan” appeared in the mid-90s citing Minister Farrakhan's ability to attract large crowds as a troubling factor for them. In the ADL's June 29 press release, clearly disturbed, Foxman is quoted as saying, “And yet he (Farrakhan)continues to fill convention centers with those eager to bear witness to his bigotry, and to believe that he holds the truth.”

Referencing the book “Slavery by Another Name” by Douglas Blackmon, Dr. Simmons said this type of research, and the naming of companies could finally form the legal basis for suits against those companies that have benefitted from slavery.

“This stuff is so painful and horrible,” said Prof. Simmons. “Without a doubt, we have been decimated,” she said citing factors such as a recent study showing a huge disparity between the worth of Black women and their White counterparts.

“Black people have almost no wealth, even if you are so-called middle class, it is only because of the salary you are earning,” Prof. Simmons told The Final Call. “The minute you lose your job, you have nothing because we have no wealth and wealth was accumulated on our backs from the time we were brought here as slaves up until the 50's and 60's,” she added.

According to Dr. Simmons, an honest discussion dealing with these topics is long overdue.

“This is why whenever we bring up reparations, people don't want to hear it, but clearly we have been economically disadvantaged and we have never ever recovered from what happened to us as a people,” she said.

“We so desperately need a person like Minister Farrakhan who is not afraid to speak out. He is not running for office, he doesn't need the approval of the media and this is why he is so important to all of us, because he will say what others are unwilling to say,” she added.