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June 01, 2018
In his first major public speaking appearance since February 2018, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivered a nearly three-hour sermon filled with attacks on Jews and Judaism from his pulpit at Mosque Maryam in Chicago on Sunday, May 27.
Warning his audience about “Satanic Jews who have infected the whole world with poison and deceit,” Farrakhan distorted passages from ancient Jewish religious texts in order to justify his conspiratorial and vile rhetoric against Jews and Judaism. Inspired by a twisted mischaracterization of Judaism, Farrakhan claimed that contemporary Jews are responsible for promoting child molestation, misogyny, police brutality and sexual assault, among other social ills. Farrakhan also asserted that contemporary Judaism is nothing but a “system of tricks and lies” which Jews study in order to learn how to “dominate” non-Jews.
Farrakhan based his some of his mischaracterization of Judaism on a distorted reading of the Talmud, an ancient compilation of legal and ethical debates among rabbis. Attacks on the Talmud were first instigated by Christian and Muslim polemicists in the early Middle Ages, and have become a staple of extreme anti-Semitic ideologues.
Farrakhan connected his attack on Judaism to other classic anti-Semitic canards, claiming that “the false Jew will lead you to filth and indecency. That’s who runs show business. That’s who runs the record industry. That’s who runs television.” Farrakhan alleged that Jews often force aspiring actors to submit to anal sex. “Do you know that many of us who go to Hollywood seeking a chance have to submit to anal sex and all kind [sic] of debauchery [before] they give you a little part?” he asked. “It’s called the casting couch. See that’s Jewish power.”
Farrakhan named disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is Jewish, as proof of this allegation. Farrakhan said that President Barack Obama was “under Jewish influence” when he advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Marriage equality, Farrakhan informed his audience, is “Satanic.”