41845358-Antisemitism

ANTISEMITIC MYTHS BLACKWASHED
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that “the newer black anti-Semitism is being whipped up by black demagogues
in search of power.” 44 It is a pity that the cheering black students did not recognize
the obvious.
In recent years Farrakhan, to improve his image with mainstream black
organizations, has shown signs of retreating from his antisemitism. In 1993 he
performed Mendelssohn on the violin, which some saw as a deliberate act of
reconciliation. And lately he has even praised Jews. He told Gates, who interviewed
him for an article published in The New Yorker in the spring of 1996:
“Jewish people are the world leaders, in my opinion. They are some of the
most brilliant people on the planet. The Jews are some of the greatest scientists,
the greatest thinkers, the greatest writers, the greatest theologians, the
greatest in music, the greatest in business. And people hate them sometimes
because of envy, and because the Jews succeed in spite of the hatred of their
Gentile brethren, or anybody else’s hatred. I admire that, as God is my witness.”
45 It has been suggested that Farrakhan is in somewhat of a bind: He is
reluctant to antagonize the growing number of young militants in his organization
who favor a strong anti-Zionist and antisemitic stance. Moreover, such
a position is endorsed by the Libyan dictator, who, in the past, has given the
Nation of Islam considerable financial support.
At the end of 1999, after recovering from life-threatening prostate cancer,
Louis Farrakhan, declaring that he was a changed man, apologized for
his previous injurious remarks against others and pledged to “spend the rest
of my days to uplift a fallen humanity, regardless of their color, their race, or
their creed.” 46 Several commentators hoped that Farrakhan was undergoing
a sincere transformation, that he was abandoning his paranoid conspiracy
theories and his bigotry and going mainstream. By advocating fasting during
Ramadan and praying on Fridays, it also appeared that he was moving Nation
of Islam members toward mainstream Islam. In support of this view was
the attendance at the Nation’s annual Saviors’ Day convention in February
2000 of Wallace Deed Mohammed, Elijah Muhammad’s son, and Sayyid
Syeed, the head of the Islamic Society of North America, which has more
than 4 million members.
At the convention, Farrakhan tried to dispel the charge of antisemitism,
which is a principal obstacle to his acceptance as a mainstream leader. He had
flown in from Brooklyn and Jerusalem several rabbis from the ultraorthodox
Neturei Karta sect, who apologized for the “nerve of the Zionist leaders who
attack the honorable Minister Farrakhan. All those who have called you an
anti-Semite, let them be ashamed. ... All those who say they are Jews who
speak ill of Mr. Farrakhan are not Jews.” 47 This was, of course, a transparent