-Third in a Series-
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — This is my last article for now dealing with some of the challenges the Jewish and black community face in their battle against racial intolerance and Anti-Semitism.
The Women’s March demonstrated against Donald Trump at his inauguration. It was one of the largest demonstrations in recent memory. However, the leadership of the Women’s March has found itself in a quandary. Three of its co-chairs, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory, all have a close relationship with Islam’s Louis Farrakhan, who is arguably one of the best-known anti-Semites in the United States today.
For a movement that seems dedicated to fighting sexism and racism, none of these three women has dared to condemn Louis Farrakhan, who continues to exacerbate the feelings of Jews and their relationship with many of the members of the African-American community.
Here are some of the incendiary remarks Farrakhan has made:
* “To the members of the Jewish community that don’t like me, thank you very much for putting my name all over the planet because of your fear of what we represent.”
What was Farrakhan referring to? He was most likely alluding to the strong reaction to anti-Semitic comments he made in a speech where he accused the “Satanic Jews” as having “infected the whole world with poison and deceit.” Farrakhan continued, “I can go anywhere in the world and they’ve heard of Farrakhan,” he continued. “Thank you very much. I’m not mad at you because you’re so stupid,” he continued, apparently still addressing Jews.
Farrakhan continued to lambast the Jews with his next quip:
* “So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you know what they do, call me an anti-Semite. Stop it, I’m anti-termite,” he said to laughter and applause around the audience. “I don’t know nothing about hating somebody because of their religious preference.”[1]
It’s important for the Women’s March co-chairs to understand the animus Jews across all denominations feel toward Farrakhan, whose admiration for Hitler seeps through his sarcastic rhetoric. People forget that Farrakhan on numerous occasions described Adolf Hitler as ”a very great man.”[2]
Farrakhan’s claim of being “anti-termite” is a not-so-veiled allusion to Hitler’s grand plan to “exterminate” the Jew. Note I said, “exterminate,” and not “kill the Jew.” Extermination is a term that is used for getting rid of rodents, cockroaches, and termites. Why did Farrakhan compare the Jew to “termites”? Because termites enter a home through the cracks in the foundation. They eat up the wooden support beams that hold up a house. Their damage can be considerable when left undetected. By referring to the Jew as a “termite,” Farrakhan implied that the Jew is responsible for undermining society in countless ways. As with Hitler, Farrakhan believes the only way to get rid of the Jewish “termite” infestation is through extermination.
Each of these co-chairs would be wise to take to heart the wisdom offered by the Lutheran theologian and Holocaust hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who offered these practical words, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’”
I cannot understand how anyone identifying with the Jewish faith can give these three co-chairs of the Woman’s March a free pass and act as if their support of Farrakhan is morally acceptable.
According to Jewish ethics, to be silent in the face of great evil is tantamount to complicity and moral cowardice of the worse sort. The wise Hillel once said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” In Darwinian terms, if the modern Jewish woman is unwilling to confront anti-Semitism, they have abdicated their positions as Jewish leaders.
Farrakhan unabashedly refers to us as, “Satanic Jews.” He added in one recent talk to the Nation of Islam, “When you want something in this world, the Jew holds the door.” As if that remark was not contentious enough, Farrakhan proclaimed at the end of his speech, “White folks are going down, and Satan is going down, and Farrakhan by God’s grace has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew—and I’m here to say, your time is up.”
Now, some of you might be surprised to know that Sarsour and Mallory released a statement that “apologized” for “causing harm to the movement’s Jewish members and for being too slow to show its commitment to fighting anti-Semitism.” “We should have been faster and clearer in helping people understand our values and our commitment to fighting anti-Semitism. We regret that,” the recentstatement said. “Every member of our movement matters to us — including our incredible Jewish and LGBTQ members. We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused . . .”[3]
Still, Sarsour and Mallory refuse to condemn the Hitler-fawning Farrakhan. To the three co-chairs, I must say: You cannot have it both ways. But why take my word? If Martin Luther King were alive today, what would he say to all of us regarding silence of these three members of the Women’s March and their doting Jewish associates? MLK left us with many wise aphorisms:
* “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”
* “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
* “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
* “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
* “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
* “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
* “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
* “There comes a time when silence is a betrayal.”
* “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Jewish supporters of the Women’s March who are willing to overlook these egregious issues need to grow a moral backbone and confront evil whenever they see it rising.
If Jewish supporters of the Women’s March are unwilling to make an issue about this to Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory, then history will not fondly remember our people’s moral cowardice should we remain silent—once again.
Lastly, my complaint against to Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory, applies no less to Keith Ellison, a man who was once considered to be the leader of the Democratic Party and to former President Barack Obama. They both have appeared with Farrakhan on numerous occasions. They have yet to explicitly condemn Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism.
Each of these individuals mentioned above has much to answer for. As Jews, we cannot look the other way.
Not now, not ever. Never again.
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NOTES
[1] https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Farrakhan-compares-Jews-to-termites-says-Jews-are-stupid-569627
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/17/us/farrakhan-again-describes-hitler-as-a-very-great-man.html. Comp. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/twitter-shrugs-off-louis-farrakhan-anti-termite-tweet-about-jewish-people — Both Twitter and Facebook’s “community standards” is a subject worthy of addressing on its own, which I promise to write about at a future time.
[3] https://www.jta.org/2018/11/20/united-states/linda-sarsour-apologizes-jewish-members-womens-march
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com