Farrakhan, Ferguson, Israel and Their “Dirty Religion”

By Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad

On August 17, 2014, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan gave a two-and-one-half-hour lecture, “The Troubled World: What should we be doing,” in which he tied the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza under the ruthless and criminal attack of Israel to our young Black men being shot down by police in the streets of America. It took a full eight days before members of the media, acting like a pack of trained dogs, staged their attack. Breitbart.com started off the onslaught on August 25th with the headline “Farrakhan attacks Arabs, Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Whites in Ferguson Rant.” Three days later, the chorus steps in: “Dave Weinbaum: Farrakhan maligns Ferguson.” The next day Sean Hannity chimes in by bringing a Negro apologist on his show to condemn Farrakhan, and he even tries to hound a Black preacher on the panel to condemn The Minister as well.

And what did The Minister say that was so bad? He said Black people do not control the economy in their communities and that other ethnic groups who are not residents of the Black community make money off Blacks, then take that money back to enrich their own communities. None of the pundits denied those facts—they just did not like Minister Farrakhan pointing them out. Instead, they tried to divert attention away from Israel’s war crimes by acting as if they were concerned about Minister Farrakhan offending other ethnic groups.

Why did these talking heads NOT condemn and fact-check other statements made by Minister Farrakhan in this lecture, such as:

“The following are statistics on the number of Palestinians slaughtered in Gaza from rockets flown by Israel. While Israel has only counted a few casualties (three civilians), the month-long slaughter

a) has now killed 1,939 Palestinians (73 percent of them civilians), which includes 449 children, 243 women, and 87 elderly; 

b) almost 10,000 have been wounded; among them are at least 3,004 children, 1,907 women, and 359 elderly; 

c) As many as 3,000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed or damaged, and over 485,000 people (almost one-third of the Gaza population of 1,700,000) have been displaced. There is no electricity, no running water, and the law of warfare has been violated. These are war criminals…”

Was The Minister lying or telling the truth, and are these killings by the Israeli government of its own people war crimes? Is America’s refusal to check her little brother (Israel) a sign of moral decadence and political impotency? Min. Farrakhan went on to state: “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that America and England put their little brother ‘Israel’ into Palestine, with the help of the United Nations. And from 1948 to this minute they have not had any peace.”

This is a bold assertion, but is it true? Minister Farrakhan goes on to explain how his position on Israel began his ongoing controversy with the Jews:

“Nearly 30 years ago (1984), I tried to help Reverend Jesse Jackson in his courageous bid to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for the presidency of the United States….While we were saying, “Run Jesse, Run!” they [Jews] were writing in their newspapers, “Ruin Jesse, Ruin!”

I came to his defense. I was not trying to get in any problem with the Jewish people, but when I spoke up, they started calling me the “New Black Hitler.” Hitler! Now, I am a student of a great warrior—and I did not “lay down,” I did not “sit down”! I fought back; not with hate, but with words of truth! And when they couldn’t shut me down, they brought their scholars to debate with me on national television, and not one of them ever prevailed! Then they decided, ‘No more television for Farrakhan.’ But I told them, ‘Television didn’t make me.’ What television makes, television can destroy! What media makes, media can destroy! I am made by God—and nobody can destroy what God has made!”

Why did the watchdogs for Anti-Semitism NOT jump on Minister Farrakhan for mentioning “dirty religion” again?

“I said then: ‘That nation called ‘Israel’ never has had any peace in 40 years, and she will never have any peace, because there can never be any peace structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit using The Name of God to shield your dirty religion under His Holy and Righteous name.’ Now what did I mean by that? Some Christians practice a ‘dirty religion,’ not that Jesus is unclean; not that the scripture is unclean, but the practice of slavery, colonization, the brutal slaughter of the Indigenous of the world in the name of Jesus? That’s ‘dirty religion.’ And now that it has been 66 years since Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, and 20 years since I made that statement: Does she have any peace? None.”

It is truly amazing how different people with different agendas can listen and watch the same speech and come out with diametrically opposed views of what was significant. Throughout his lecture The Minister tied the suffering of the Palestinian people to Black people in America. He even admonished our great basketball star, Dwight Howard, for first exhibiting his humanity and exerting the “freedom of speech” that he thought he had when he retweeted “#freepalestine.” But then only a few minutes later Howard apologized for commenting on international affairs and promised not to make such a “mistake” again. Morton Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America, publicly condemned Howard and called him “ignorant.” Minister Farrakhan pointed out the pitiful state of our millionaire ball players and entertainers who are handcuffed by the fear of losing contracts if they try to step beyond Jewish control.

It is also interesting that the Jewish-controlled media failed to report on a statement made by Minister Farrakhan that will cause the US government to rethink its plans to replicate the military attack on our people in Ferguson in other major cities like Chicago, The Minister’s home. The Minister has warned Black people that the police are being trained in military tactics and given military weaponry. And according to reports, “At least two of the four law enforcement agencies that were deployed in Ferguson…received training from Israeli security forces in recent years.” 

In his address The Minister said that if they roll out the tanks in Black Chicago, he and his Catholic brother Father Michael Pfleger would walk hand and hand in front of those tanks daring the government to shoot them first. Why did the media ignore this statement? Did they think that The Minister was bluffing? Black America exploded at the police murder of a total unknown (Michael Brown). What does the government think will happen if a single hair on the head of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is disturbed? Minister Farrakhan again reminded the listeners that the Great Mother Plane which exists is protecting him and can destroy America in less than one day.

Why don’t they report that?