The Final Call

Zionist pressure, Black Caucus capitulations won’t stop Farrakhan say analysts and activists

By Richard B. Muhammad and Charlene Muhammad, The Final Call Newspaper | Last updated: Mar 13, 2018 - 12:03:42 AM

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Sheldon Adelson

Photos: AP/Wide World photos

The Jewish stranglehold on Black political leaders was manifested when some members of the Congressional Black Caucus pitifully caved in and capitulated to demands by the Republican Jewish Coalition that they denounce Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Jewish and Zionist groups, right-wing and mainstream media unleashed a flood of slander and half-truths following his prophetic, late February address closing the Nation’s Saviours’ Day convention in Chicago.

The Jewish group called on Representatives Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.); Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Al Green (D-Texas) to resign. The RJC demand followed about a week of daily news coverage and media denunciations as part of the “Farrakhan speech controversy.”

Chicago Democrat Davis initially responded by citing his history of opposing bigotry, but did not denounce Minister Farrakhan in interviews with the Daily Caller, a right wing website. Jewish pressure kept building and by the evening of March 8 Rep. Davis had joined Rep. Lee and Rep. Meeks in disavowing the Minister.

Dr. Boyce Watkins spoke candidly about the Black congressional cave ins: “It’s a lack of power. It’s fear! A lack of discipline, a lack of self-respect, which leads to no respect.”

“The members of the Congressional Black Caucus are basically admitting that they have no power. They should too be condemned for abandoning and disavowing the Black community,” the author and Black economic empowerment advocate said.

The lawmakers are political puppets who represent cosmetic diversity only but not ideological diversity, and people shouldn’t expect anything different than they would get from White men, he added.

“What’s interesting to me is that they will condemn the words of Minister Farrakhan and say we condemn hate speech of any kind, so you’re going out of your way to attack another Black person on behalf of White people … but in your quest to allegedly condemn hate speech of any kind, you never once condemn the Jewish community for running these record labels where every other rapper is calling Black people the N-word, and every other rapper is promoting Black genocide, which has been more insidious, more effective, longer lasting than the genocide imposed on the Jews during the reign of Adolf Hitler,” argued Dr. Watkins.

“What the Jewish community is going to have to confront is the fact that you have been our Hitler. You have mass-promoted, through media, the extermination of Black people through Black-on-Black crime, the complete disrespect of Black women and Black families in your music, and not once have you ever condemned that as hate speech,” Dr. Watkins told The Final Call.

“So, you condemn us. Well, we condemn you, so I guess that means everybody is condemning each other,” said Dr. Watkins. He’s not surprised by the condemnations and predicted more in upcoming days. 

Between organizing the 60th Southern Christian Leadership Conference convention and the 50th commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor Peoples’ Campaign in Washington, D.C., Charles Steele, SCLC national president, said: “I am expressing not what the Minister said. I am talking about what he did.”

Former First Lady Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks about civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks at the funeral November 2, 2005 at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan. Rosa Parks, who died October 24 at the age of 92, will always be remembered as the woman who was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a White man, an incident that sparked the civil rights movement. In the photo along with Mrs. Clinton is Min. Farrakhan who also spoke at the funeral. In their 2008 Democratic Primary Presidential debate Mrs. Clinton criticized then Senator Barack Obama for not “denouncing” and “rejecting” Min. Farrakhan who had spoken kind words about his candidacy

The civil rights leader, and recent inductee into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, repeated how the Minister saved SCLC as the organization was out of money and almost out of hope. Min. Farrakhan gave Dr. Steele money to keep the doors open while other funds were being raised.

“My response is not political. See all this stuff politicians are doing, that’s politics. I’m just talking about the facts. … I know that when I was in desperate need of saving this organization, when everybody had written it off, I went to Minister Farrakhan when every other door I tried—not that they meant anything bad—I’m just telling you, that it didn’t happen until I went to Minister Farrakhan, who didn’t question me and wrote me a check. Because I asked him to have faith in what I was doing in the spirit of Dr. King and the civil rights movement, I said because we are broke. And he said, ‘Brother Charles … I will help you, but there’s one thing I want you to understand. When I help you, you can’t pay me back,’ ” Dr. Steele said. 

Pam Africa, founder of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal in Philadelphia, sees a power dynamic playing out and pressure exerted by Jewish groups isn’t rooted in fear, nor the fact that the lawmakers don’t care for Minister Farrakhan.

“They are doing it because of governmental terrorism. They are terrified to stand up and do the right thing,” said the activist. 

“These church-going people claim to care and that they are God-fearing people. That’s not true, because you see it when you have a person who is godly, who’s standing before you, and tells the truth, you’re not afraid of him, because you stood with him,” she stated.

The Jewish influence on Black life shows Blacks have gotten nowhere in the Black-Jewish relationship, lamented Ms. Africa. Blacks have been relegated to the position of kiss-up and suck-ups to that which is wrong, as indicated by the Black lawmakers’ denunciation of Minister Farrakhan, she said.

“This is 2018 and we have been duped so much and get nothing from it, and people know that they can’t get anything from these people. That’s why people are gravitating to the continuous stand that the Minister has in teaching the people the truth. ... This war of the gods, good and bad, could have been over a long time ago if we didn’t have weak people. They’re the Judas that Jesus Christ dealt with,” she argued.

Some pointed out naked politics in the RJC and right-wing attack against the Black Democrats. With discontent in the country over President Trump and controversies that could turn off female voters, the pressure on the Democrats, activists like Tamika Mallory and the “Farrakhan controversy” are designed to beat back possible GOP losses in 2018 mid-term elections by weakening Democrats and anti-Trump activists.

Donald Trump, Jr. attacked Min. Farrakhan via Twitter and blasted Democrats for not renouncing him. He derisively tweeted March 11 that Min. Farrakhan “sounds like the Democrat’s front runner for 2020. I guess they finally embraced God ... which is nice!”

He was referring to a tweet by the Minister warning, “America: You are the most rotten nation on the Earth. That is why God has come, and you are No. 1 on His list to be destroyed.”  

Ari Fleischer, a Republican Jewish Coalition board member and former spokesman for President George W. Bush, joined the anti-Farrakhan Twitter attacks supported by Sean Hannity, his other Fox News colleagues and Alan Dershowitz.

Jewish billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson, a casino magnate, is RJC board chairman and virulently pro-Israel. He once called for the U.S. to detonate a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert to show the Islamic Republic that America was serious. His influence and multi-million dollar donations are believed to have influenced President Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, which was condemned as horrible policy around the globe and contrary to the advice of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Adelson donations included $20 million to a pro-Trump political action committee, $1.5 million to the Republican convention, and additional funds for the inauguration. The president’s son-in-law, a strong supporter of Israel, and a daughter are also Jewish.

“We are writing this open letter to express our deep disappointment with your published denouncement of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day 2018 message at the behest of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the anti-Defamation League and others who represent White supremacy and the continuing effort to destroy our community,” said the Executive Council of the Nation of Islam on March 9, speaking to members of the Black Caucus. (See additional coverage pages 4 and 24.)

RJC pressure in America, Black suffering in Israel

Congressmen Lee, Davis and Meeks joined the unenviable ranks of Rep. Ellison, who had been the lone CBC member to publicly denounce Minister Farrakhan in seeking to head the Democratic National Committee.

Not every member of the Congressional Black Caucus had kowtowed to Jewish demands to disavow Minister Farrakhan at Final Call presstime.

Rep. Carson spoke to Indianapolis-based FOX 58 TV host Angela Ganote about the Republican Jewish Coalition in a March 9 interview: “That organization (the RJC) doesn’t have any credibility with me. I know they have a political agenda. The Congressional Black Caucus is asking that organization to condemn (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and the (Israeli) government for discriminating against Africans who are migrating, who are fleeing dictatorships, who are fleeing oppression. There’s a great deal of bigotry and racism happening right now they fail to condemn.”

Rep. Carson said his record shows he’s consistently condemned any kind of discrimination.

The Final Call had received no response to its requests for interviews with Rep. Lee, Rep. Waters and other CBC members at press time.

During his Feb. 25 message, Minister Farrakhan responded to charges of anti-Semitism that reemerged with the publication of a 2005 photo of the Minister and then-Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

After howling unsuccessfully for President Obama to repudiate Min. Farrakhan again, the ADL, other paternalistic Zionist organizations and Jewish publications demanded to know why the Minister was invited to the Congressional Black Caucus legislative weekend, where the photo was taken. They polled Black lawmakers and again demanded that “Farrakhan be repudiated.” A majority of Black congressmen did not bow to their demands.

“So you will turn on your brother for some advantage in their world,” said Min. Farrakhan. “If you want something from the White man and you have to denounce me, how will you act when your trial comes?”

After Rep. Lee issued a statement on Twitter condemning Min. Farrakhan, Mr. Greenblatt of the ADL responded with his approval.

Min. Farrakhan described how Black politicians and leaders call for his help but bow to Jewish and White interests when pressured. Minister Farrakhan called out his Jewish detractors to a public debate and challenged them to defeat the truth that he has consistently spoken from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad that Blacks in America fulfil prophecy and are the true children of Israel.

Similarly in a 2010 open letter, Min. Farrakhan urged Black leaders to review the book, “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, Part 2” which documented how Jews gained control of the Black economy and benefitted from their paternal relationship with Blacks. (See page 22 for a copy of the letter.)

“Whenever the Light of Truth has been shone on them, they reach for you to defend them against the Truth that uncovers the horror that has been done to us. They have always been successful pitting us against each other thus keeping them from facing the Truth of their real relationship with us. As they call upon you to denounce me as an anti-Semite and, because of the favor you believe you owe them for what they have done to help make life comfortable for you; I am asking you to stand down. I am asking you to read this research and then discuss it with your Jewish friends. Would you condemn me as an anti-Semite for exposing the research that shows them as being anti-Black? I am asking you to stand down and let them come out to me to defend their record and history of their relationship with us that we compiled from that which was written by their own scholars, historians, and Rabbis,” he wrote. “If you become an apologist for them in this hour, you will be seen by the masses of our people as a modern day Uncle Tom who believes you owe more to them than to the masses of our suffering people.”

ADL attacks Farrakhan

The Anti-Defamation League took to social media to attack the Minister and Jewish and right-wing media outlets joined the assault. The mainstream media quickly followed.

Atty. Abdul Arif Muhammad, general counsel for the Nation of Islam, pointed out the importance of Min. Farrakhan’s July 19, 2010 letter to Black leaders. “He was very kind to them and asked them to stand down and step to the side and let the Satanic Jew come out to defend himself and the truth that we have been teaching,” said Atty. Arif Muhammad. By “Satanic Jew,” Atty. Arif Muhammad was referring to a term used by Min. Farrakhan in his Saviours’ Day message and at other times. It refers to a scriptural passage, Revelation 3:9, which says, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee” in the King James version of the bible. Min. Farrakhan has said there are “Satanic” or evil ones masquerading as true Believers in Christianity, Islam and the Jewish faith.

Atty. Arif Muhammad added that the current ordeal reminds him spiritually of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross with two thieves. “The people were asked to choose whether to take him down off the cross and as the story went, they chose the thieves over Jesus. In other words, they chose Barabbas over the good man, and this, to me, is what has happened with the capitulation of some of these congresspersons. They have chosen Barabbas over a good man, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” he stated. “The Minister’s message Saviours’ Day was very prophetic. He said the government is my enemy. The powerful Jews are my enemy. And scared to death Negroes are my enemy, and weak Muslims and hypocrites are my enemy, but here I stand, and we say, here we stand with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.”

“These so-called leaders are acting against the self-interest of themselves and against the self-interest of us as a people because it is the people who love the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan because they know that he works on behalf of the totality of the self-interest of Black people,” he added.

In San Diego, student minister Hugh Muhammad faced down pressure from the ADL against the work of Muhammad Mosque No. 8 to bring the light of Islam to suffering people. The ADL asked Muslim leaders to denounce Minister Farrakhan and when the imams refused, they went to pastors, community leaders and activists, he said. Muslim businesses initially suffered from slander because the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the NOI as a hate group, but the Muslims fought and won because of community support, he said.

“The community members, our young people, tore the woman up from the ADL and said ‘We don’t know you!’  We know the Nation of Islam. We know Minister Hugh Muhammad. We know the work that they do, but we don’t know who you are, and you ain’t gonna come in here and tell us who we’re going to work with,” Hugh Muhammad recalled.

Atty. Ava Muhammad, Minister Farrakhan’s national spokesperson, said the attacks and upset over the photos with Mr. Obama, Black politicians and Tamika Mallory’s attendance at Saviours’ Day are signs that his enemies recognize Minister Farrakhan’s influence.

Min. Farrakhan with activist Tamika Mallory. Ms. Mallory has faced unrelenting attacks by Jewish groups, media and White women who are demanding she denounce and condemn the Minister.

Ms. Mallory, who was a leader of the successful Women’s March, was denounced by mainstream and right-wing media and some White women’s groups. She was criticized on The View in a March 9 broadcast. But in an op-ed published on newsone.com, titled “Wherever My People Are Is Where I Must Be,” she responded to critics. The Women’s March co-chair admitted her attendance at Saviours’ Day “troubled some of the very people who I have fought for and worked alongside for most of my life.” “I first went (to Saviours’ Day) with my parents when I was just a little girl, and would begin attending on my own after my son’s father was murdered nearly 17 years ago,” she said. “In that most difficult period of my life, it was the women of the Nation of Islam who supported me and I have always held them close to my heart for that reason. I am the same woman who helped to build an intersectional movement that fights for the rights of all people and stands against hatred and discrimination of all forms. I am the same person today that I was before Saviours’ Day, which begs the question—why are my beliefs being questioned now? … Where my people are is where I must also be.” She helped organize the January 21, 2017 that drew 5 million participants worldwide.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper launched a Twitter storm Feb. 28 insisting there was reason for offense because then-Senator Obama and members of the Black Caucus interacted with Minister Farrakhan in 2005.

He further compared Minister Farrakhan to racist, violent White supremacists Nazis, saying the only difference is Minister Farrakhan has a larger following, and that elected officials meet with him openly.

Minister Farrakhan’s followers responded with a barrage of actual facts about who he really is. “The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is not a hater. He is a lover of truth, a lover of God, a lover of his teacher and a lover of our people,” said Jesse Muhammad, who manages the Minister’s social media accounts.

The Farrakhan Twitter Army went to work on social media, hurling truth against falsehood despite hateful, uncivil and sometimes profane words aimed at Minister Farrakhan.

On Twitter, Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL chief executive officer, falsely charged Minister Farrakhan with a history of scapegoating Jews and attacked Ms. Mallory for attending Minister Farrakhan’s keynote address at the Wintrust Arena.

“If you’re Black and you’re a powerful person, elected, corporate, whatever, if you are doing the bidding of White people, you are a super slave, that you have power and you’re exercising that power against your own people,” commented Professor Raymond Winbush of Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Screenshot of Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) during a recent television interview in Indianapolis.

It’s a tragedy that Blacks have elected leaders whose constituents strongly support Minister Farrakhan but politicians don’t because of influential lobbying groups, he said. But, he added, their stances will not bode well among their people, he said.

Minister Farrakhan holds a highly esteemed place in the Black community, not just Black Muslim community, but with Black Christians, among atheists, and at every possible level, so while they may get a few, for the Jewish organizations to continue to think that they can somehow dislodge him from that position is an absolute waste of their time, argued Prof. Winbush.

“It just shows you the inordinate control of the Jewish people over our Black leadership. Why has Barbara Lee, Greg Meeks and Danny Davis condemned the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan? They all have the Minister’s number. Why did they not ask him what was actually said and the context of what, he said before condemnation?” asked regional student Minister Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad of Atlanta.

“The thing is that this is not new, especially with respect to the Minister. There’s always been this effort to separate the Minister, isolate Minister Farrakhan, to isolate the Nation of Islam from other Black folks who are also powerful, also doing work on behalf of the community,” said Nana Gyamfi, a Los Angeles-based human rights attorney.

“It has always failed and it’s gonna continue to fail in terms of their attempts to create this wedge, whether Black people are members of the Nation of Islam, even if they don’t believe in all the tenets of the Nation of Islam, Black people are clear on the fact that the Nation of Islam and Minister Farrakhan love Black people, and that Minister Farrakhan has sacrificed and has worked, diligently, on behalf of Black people, has stood up for Black people, and has done that in terms of the Million Man March and other gatherings and convenings that he has called,” Atty. Gyamfi said.

As for Rep. Maxine Waters, Republicans and Trump followers were already after the outspoken congresswoman. She called for Mr. Trump’s impeachment before he got to the White House, Atty. Gyamfi pointed out.

Dr. Tony Monteiro, former Temple University professor, told The Final Call the “strategy” of leading Zionist organizations in the United States, in particular the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, is to separate Minister Farrakhan from his Black base. Their strategy will not work, the W.E.B. DuBois scholar said.

Their strategy of “repudiation,” like in the past, will only strengthen Min. Farrakhan’s and the Nation of Islam’s position within the Black community, predicted Dr. Monteiro. The position of the Minister and the Nation is stronger now than at “any time since the success of the (1995) Million Man March,” he added.

Dr. Monteiro said Min. Farrakhan attracts Black and poor people “on the basis of him being seen as a voice of Black America and its struggle against the forces of right-wing authoritarianism and racism, as well as a consistent voice against Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.”

Dr. Monteiro believes more than 60 percent of Black Americans are supporters of Min Farrakhan. If this is a fact and the Jewish community is accusing him of “being an anti-Semite,” he said, “it stands to reason they are also indicting those Blacks that see him as leader.”

(Eric Ture Muhammad, Starla Muhammad, Jehron Muhammad and Final Call staff contributed to this report.)