“Woe to every slanderer, defamer!
—Holy Qur’an, Surah 104:1 (The Slanderer)
“For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
—Bible, NKJ, Psalm 109:2-3
CHICAGO—The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam filed an 11-count lawsuit on October 16 in the Southern District Court of New York against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), its president Johnathan Greenblatt individually and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) and its Director of Global Social Action Abraham Cooper individually, alleging infringement of his constitutional rights of freedom of association and free exercise of religion. The lawsuit also makes a claim for defamation.
“For nearly forty (40) years, the Anti-Defamation League (hereinafter, “ADL”), later joined by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (hereinafter, “SWC”), in violation of the rights and protections guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, have engaged in actions to hinder Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam from continuing the Mission that Allah (God) gave to the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” the lawsuit states.
This mission, accepted by Minister Farrakhan, is to deliver the Truth, taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad that will correct the condition of spiritual, mental and moral death of the Black man and woman of America that came as a result of the 310 years of chattel slavery and over 150 years of oppression and suppression, thereafter, the document continues.
“While the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s Mission started with the Black man and woman of America, that Mission has expanded through Minister Farrakhan to the whole of humanity,” the lawsuit notes.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges Greenblatt and Cooper, as representatives of their organizations, did such acts knowingly, willfully, intentionally, with actual malice and “under the color of law.”
“Color of law refers to the appearance of legal authority or an apparently legal right that may not exist. The term is often used to describe the abuse of power under the guise of state authority and is therefore illegal,” explains www.law.cornell.edu. The lawsuit seeks damages of $4.8 billion.
The lawsuit demands a trial by jury and alleges that Greenblatt and Cooper, through their organizations, have for decades labeled Minister Farrakhan “an antisemite,” “antisemitic,” “promoting antisemitism,” “a hater of Jews,” and even as a “Black Hitler,” all without proof.
Such relentless false labeling, the lawsuit states, has had a damaging and chilling effect on those who would support Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam and has hindered the Minister in his mission and calling.
A Divine mission amid opposition
For over 90 years, the Nation of Islam under its founder Master Fard Muhammad, Allah (God) in Person and the Great Mahdi; its Eternal Leader, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and their servant, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan have worked and labored tirelessly in the mission to resurrect, redeem and reform the Black man and woman of America.
Centuries of slavery, suffering and death, decades of abuse during Reconstruction, Jim Crow and beyond—enforced by federal, state and local laws—have impacted several generations of Black people in the United States.
In scripture, it is prophesied that God would come and choose the rejected, unloved and despised, and they would be His people and He would be their God. “Is there any people more despised, more rejected, more unloved than the Black people of America?” the Minister asked during his Saviours’ Day 2019 message, “A Saviour is Born for the Black man and woman of America.”
His teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who was taught for three years and four months by Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, taught Islam to Black men and women of America, first in an area of Detroit, called “Black Bottom.” The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad stated in His book, “Message To The Blackman In America,” why Islam is key in the chapter titled, “Islam Dignifies.”
Mr. Muhammad explains in part that Islam is the natural religion and way of life for Black people and it dignifies the Black man (and woman), giving them the desire “to be clean internally and externally and for the first time to have a sense of dignity.” He also states that Islam makes Black people love and know one another.
However, at every turn since its inception, the Nation of Islam has faced targeted opposition from the U.S. government and other entities, including the ADL and SWC. The 72-page lawsuit meticulously lays out the allegations leveled at the ADL, Greenblatt, SWC and Cooper over the years.
False labeling
The lawsuit alleges the ADL and SWC use such labels as anti-Semite singularly to mean anti-Jewish or anti-Israel when the word “Semite” refers to a diverse group of people who speak specific languages in the Middle East.
Greenblatt and Cooper know that “falsely labeling someone as ‘anti-Semitic’ is a ‘trick’ to manipulate, to punish, and/or to unduly influence others to stay away from saying and/or doing anything critical of the ADL, or its interests,” the lawsuit alleges.
Lawyers for the Nation of Islam point out that the ADL and SWC have painted a picture of Minister Farrakhan as a hater of Jews despite following his every word over four decades. The ADL has produced numerous documents, including “Farrakhan: In His Own Words.” The document maliciously accuses the Minister of anti-Semitic rhetoric yet never recounts the innumerable times he has acknowledged Judaism as a revered religion of God and his respect for the Jewish faith.
The ADL did not, in their documents, acknowledge Minister Farrakhan’s many requests for dialogue with Jewish leaders. Both the ADL and SWC have used their influence to cause damage not only to Minister Farrakhan’s persona but also to his and the Nation of Islam’s ability to conduct business and establish friendships.
The legal filing brands the ADL and SWC as “unamerican” organizations that have woven themselves into the fabric of the U.S. government, in general, and into local governments within America to advance their “interests that are unamerican.”
The SWC demonstrated its control over media outlets when, in 2018, its founder, Marvin Heir, directly caused the streaming service “Netflix” to prevent the showing of a documentary on Minister Farrakhan’s life in music. The SWC later boasted on its website how it exercised influence over another media outlet, causing it to cancel the broadcast of Minister Farrakhan’s July 4, 2020, message entitled “The Criterion.”
The SWC published a report titled “The 2020 Top Ten Worst Global Anti-Semitic Incidents,” where it defamed the Minister as “America’s Godfather of anti-Semitism.”
In addition to being falsely branded an anti-Semite, the lawsuit alleges the ADL acts “under the color of law” by its ability to directly request and receive millions of taxpayer dollars to fund its organization and promote its programs.
In 2022, the lawsuit notes, the Office of Management and Budget received from the ADL a letter requesting funding in the amount of $1.5 billion.
The ability to demand large sums of money and receive it “in a matter of days,” is the quintessential definition of “direct nexus” and “a symbiotic relationship” with the government, the lawsuit says of the non-profit ADL organization.
What makes the request even more extraordinary is that “at no time should any request for funding be made directly to the Office of Management and Budget unless it is a government agency,” according to the lawsuit.
A pattern, history of violations
While posing as a friend to numerous civil rights organizations, the ADL worked jointly for decades with the F.B.I., conducting “illegal surveillance and monitoring” of these organizations,” the lawsuit continues.
The ADL admits it trains new F.B.I. special agents and intelligence analysts and works with local law enforcement. As such, the lawsuit says it functions as a governmental actor that can be held liable for violating a person’s constitutionally protected rights.
“This pattern and history of the ADL’s nearly 83 years of illegal surveillance and data gathering on groups and persons, in joint action with state and federal law enforcement agencies, to be used for targeting groups whose views or policies the ADL disagrees with, is at the most egregious levels of the violation of constitutional rights, as secured by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” the lawsuit argues.
The false charge by the ADL against Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam started in 1984 when the Minister came to the aid of Rev. Jesse Jackson in his first run for president. The ADL and other Jewish groups targeted Rev. Jackson as an anti-Semite, and the reverend received threats to his life. Minister Farrakhan stood to warn Jewish detractors not to bring harm to Rev. Jackson or his family.
The Minister would criticize the behavior of some Jews in the U.S. and the unjust acts of Israeli Zionists against the Palestinians. From then on, he was branded falsely a “Black Hitler” by Nathan Perlmutter the then-Executive Director of the ADL, and over the years the Minister was labeled as the number one anti-Semite in America.
As an anointed and appointed servant of God, Minister Farrakhan has extended an olive branch to Jewish leaders for decades in efforts to engage in a dialogue, but his overtures have been rejected.
In part 18 of his 58-week 2013 lecture series, “The Time and What Must Be Done,” Minister Farrakhan rhetorically states: “Louis Farrakhan: An ‘anti-Semite’?” He continues by breaking down the pre-fix “anti.”
“Well, if somebody is an‘anti-’ they are ‘opposed to’; they are ‘against.’ The definition of ‘anti’ asan adjective means: ‘A person opposed to a particular policy, activity or idea,’” the Minister explained.
“We, The Nation of Islam, are ‘opposed,’ in that sense, to a wicked policy against our people. We are ‘opposed’ to a wicked activity based on the idea of ‘White Supremacy.’ Yes; we are ‘opposed’ to that, but you can never find, since I have risen by The Grace of God to rebuild the work of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, not one White person that has been harmed by us, and not one Jewish person, nor one Black person, that has been harmed by us!” the Minister said.
“So how will you make us ‘haters’ when there is no deed that demonstrates ‘hatred’? We are beyond that—but, are you? It seems to me that your hatred of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam is driving you crazy! Everywhere we go we find you’ve been there, telling lies on us before we get there! Every place that we leave, here you come: Telling lies following us up! And that is why, out of The Spirit of God: We Call for a ‘Showdown’!”
The Complaint and Exhibits may be accessed at https://noi.org/NOIvADL/ and www.finalcall.com. The Final Call will continue to cover this important and critical story as it develops.
