Minister Louis Farrakhan
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been accused of being anti-Semitic for over 30 years. This false charge has been repeated, recycled and has lasted for decades with more misconstrued words added almost yearly.

“Semitic” means: “Relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family. Relating to the people who speak Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.”

As an ancient people who once spoke Arabic as the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us, how can Min. Farrakhan be anti-himself? When you ask why Minister Farrakhan is called anti-Semitic, certain lies rise to the top:

1.          Farrakhan called Hitler “great.”
2.          He called Judaism a “gutter religion.”
3.          He calls Jewish people “Satanic.”
4.          He is anti-Israel.
5.          He called Jews “termites.”

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Context and truth are everything. Each lie was intentionally cast to tarnish the good name of our beloved Minister and those who follow him. Let’s look at these lies:

“Farrakhan called Hitler a great man.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson received hateful attacks by members of the Jewish community for supporting the Palestinian people and a balanced U.S. policy in the Middle East when running for president in 1984. A dangerous environment surrounded this man because of racism and virulent, radical Zionism. Rev. Jackson’s life was especially threatened after he made a remark referring to Jews and New York as “Hymietown.” Minister Farrakhan stood to defend his brother. On February 25, 1984, the Minister spoke of the deadly climate members of the Jewish community had created for Rev. Jackson. The Minister warned those who wanted to harm Rev. Jackson to leave him alone and called for a dialogue with those at odds with the civil rights leader.

Nathan Perlmutter, the former National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on February 27, 1984, labeled the Minister “Black Hitler,” and that label was repeated. 

On March 11, 1984  at the Final Call Administration Building in Chicago, Minister Farrakhan responded to this insult during a radio broadcast. “Don’t compare me with your wicked killers,” he declared. He later called Hitler “great, wickedly great,” saying that Hitler was a great man, in impact and power but not a good man, as he raised Germany up from nothing.

Hitler was not great for me as a Black man, the Minister said.

No, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan did not call Adolf Hitler “great” to praise him. Minister Farrakhan has said time and time again that he was not saying “great” as in morally correct or “good,” but rather as in large in size and powerful, which is in fact the definition of great.

“Farrakhan called Judaism a gutter religion.”

The crazy thing about this is that it was never said. There is no full quote of Min. Farrakhan saying, “Judaism is a gutter religion.” In 1984, Minister Farrakhan criticized the state of Israel, saying the absence of peace in that nation was due to their immoral and unjust practices in the name of God. He wrote a follow-up letter to clarify his statement, saying that so-called Jews were using the name of God to shield their “dirty religion.” That term is taken from the Lessons of the Nation of Islam and refer to all who use religion to hide their evil acts. The Minister has also said Muslims, Christians and Jews had all practiced “dirty religion,” or done things that were evil and then tried to justify the evil by tying it to religion.

“Countless times over the years I have explained that I never referred to Judaism as a dirty religion, but, clearly referred to the machinations of those who hide behind the shield of Judaism while using unjust political means to achieve their objectives. This was distilled in the New York tabloids and other media saying, ‘Farrakhan calls Judaism a gutter religion,’ ” said Min. Farrakhan.

“ ‘Farrakhan calls Jewish people ‘Satanic.’ ”

I am sure that many of us have heard and read about Minister Farrakhan using the term “Satanic Jews” before. However, truth mixed with falsehood can easily be used to mislead the people.

Using the adjective “satanic” describes a specific group of so-called Jewish persons who are malicious and wicked in their practices differing from the true teachings of Moses. It is not to smear the name of every Jewish person in the world.

The scriptures in Revelations 2:9 and 3:9 mentions a “Synagogue of Satan,” comprised of those who say they are Jews but are not.

Minister Farrakhan further explained the Synagogue of Satan in his 2013 “The Time and What Must Be Done” lecture series, in Part 20.

“ ‘The Synagogue of Satan’ is comprised of Jews and Gentiles who are in rebellion against God: His Statutes, Laws and Commandments, His Will and His Way.  And it is these so-called Jews who are giving ‘a bad name’ to the righteous Jews who are practicing the teachings that Moses and the Israelite prophets have given them, that they have received and are trying their best to show their gratitude to Almighty God for having made them to excel the nations,” he said.

“Farrakhan is anti-Israel.”

In 2002, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now asked influential former Israeli politician 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” regarding Israeli policies. Shulamit Aloni answered, “Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. … When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic. … The ties between Israel and the American Jewish establishment are very strong and they are strong in this country … their attitude is ‘Israel, my country right or wrong,’ identification. And they are not ready to hear criticism.”

Israel is not above criticism, and neither is the United States. Minister Farrakhan does not approve of the wicked policies of Israel. If his speaking the truth about unrighteous governments is being “anti-Semitic,” then not being anti-Semitic means to be satisfied with oppression.

And finally, “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.”

After the Minister said that he was “anti-termite”, he spoke directly to the issue of anti-Blackness. “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 said.

“The 10 percent” are the bloodsuckers of the poor. They are “the rich; the slave-makers of the poor, who teach the poor lies.” They 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. The exploitation of Black people by people of other communities, including the Jewish community, is no secret.

To conclude, Minister Farrakhan 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 can harm innocent people.

This piece was edited from a series of articles published in Joshua’s Truth Magazine, at joshuastruth.com.