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By Debbie Schlussel
When Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan spoke Sunday at the Islamic Center of America in Detroit, his chilling, hateful words against Jews scared me . But I was even more frightened by the cheers and fervor of his audience of more than 1,000 Arab-Americans and black Muslims who surrounded me in the mosque. Now I know how my grandparents must have felt like in Nazi Germany.
Why did the Islamic Center invite Farrakhan to give the keynote address on a day of remembrance of its late leader Imam Mohammad Jawad Chirri, who encouraged tolerance and interfaith understanding? And where is the outcry from other community leaders, black and otherwise?
Here are just a few of the disturbing things I witnessed. Farrakhan continuously attacked Jews. Proclaiming that "we ought to promote anything that causes African-Arabic unity," Farrakhan said the core of his speech was about the evil power of "the Zionists," but it was clear that this was his euphemism for the Jews. He described them as "forces of evil."
Farrakhan said, "We should perform a jihad (holy war)." This drew great applause. He shouted out Jewish-sounding last names of members of President Clinton's Cabinet and asked the audience who they were. "Rubin, who is he? Cohen, who is he?" he asked. Many in the audience stood up and angrily shouted, "A Jew, a Jew." Actually Secretary of Defense William Cohen is not even Jewish (he's a Unitarian). Farrakhan continued to describe Jews as "these people in positions of power with a Satanic mentality" who deceive us.
Farrakhan also talked about past black slavery in America, but spoke of his solidarity with Sudan, where Arab Muslims today buy and sell black slaves for $15. Of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, he said, "His people seem to love him," to which an Arab woman sitting behind me shouted, "That's not true!"
My experience felt identical to that of black writer and Yale professor Julius Lester, who attended a different Farrakhan event: "It is one thing to read the words of political, racial, and religious anti-Semitism in books; it is another to hear them spoken with intensity, urgency and conviction, to hear them affirmed with cheers, the stamping of feet, laughter, applause and arms thrust toward heaven. As a black, I was ashamed. What is happening in black America that it can revel in vicarious bloodletting?"
This follows in a long line of Farrakhan anti-Semitic vitriol. In one famous ranting, Farrakhan said "Here come the Jews (who) don't like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man ... (he) was a great German. ..." In another appearance, Farrakhan proclaimed that "Judaism is a dirty religion."
Just weeks ago, Farrakhan called Julian Bond, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a slave of Jewish masters because he denounced Farrakhan. And the Nation of Islam leader has shared the stage with Ku Klux Klan leaders, remarking that they share common interests in their support of racial separatism and hatred of the Jews.
Farrakhan was invited to speak in Detroit by Imam Hassan Qazwini, religious leader of the Islamic Center. Qazwini and Osama Siblani, editor of the Arab-American News, introduced Farrakhan as "our dear brother," "a freedom fighter" and "a man of courage and sacrifice." Is Qazwini, who also brags that he is part of the local Interfaith Roundtable, admitting that Farrakhan's racism is no big deal?
Why did no Detroit-area black leaders speak out against Farrakhan and his appearance? Why is no one questioning the motives of Qazwini?
When pressed by the media, even Daniel Krichbaum, executive director of the Interfaith Roundtable, would only say of Farrakhan, "his message is not helpful to people understanding different religious or racial viewpoints or to bringing people together to work toward a more tolerant society." He and other leaders certainly used much tougher words on failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoffrey Fieger, who was called a religious bigot. Why won't these timid leaders venture to call Farrakhan what he is - a hateful race-monger who is not welcome in Detroit?
Local leaders would do well to heed Lester's sagacious words about Farrakhan:
"(T)o speak only of the man is wrong. Not to speak of the people who give him credence and legitimacy partakes of evil. ... The time has come to stop making apologies for black America, to stop patronizing black America with that paternalistic brand of understanding which excuses and finds reasons for the obscenities of black hatred and black anti-Semitism. ... Jews are Farrakhan's scapegoat, but all of America is his victim."
Debbie Schlussel is a Detroit-area attorney. Write letters to The Detroit News, Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, Mich. 48226, or send an e-mail to letters@detnews.com
Copyright 1998, The Detroit News
Hero wonders why reaction would be different if the messenger and his audience were white? Anyone who denys this is not being intellectually honest or is simply an ignoramus.
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