The Spiritual Battle for Black America
Unpacking Louis Farrakhan’s latest attack on Israel
Last week, I watched the video of Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan’s address at the 2024 Saviour’s Day in Detroit. Title: What does Allah the Great Mahdi and the Great Messiah have to say about the War in the Middle East? As the title suggests, the speech was largely dedicated to the current Israel-Hamas war or the subject of Israel-Palestine. It was over three hours of deception, manipulation, revisionist history, false prophecy, antisemitism, false biblical teachings (especially in the Torah and the Hebrew prophets), and cheerleading for Hamas to the gleeful applause of the thousands of people in attendance. Farrakhan’s refrain: “Israel is not going to stay in the Middle East.”
I’ve been observing Louis Farrakhan’s teachings since the early 2000’s. Interestingly, when I saw or heard him speak, it was almost exclusively during a cable broadcast of a Black church service. I remember seeing him stand in the pulpit with the Koran on one side of the podium and the Bible on the other. Growing up in a Christian home, the Nation of Islam, mainstream Islam, or Louis Farrakhan were not topics of discussion, so watching this in my 30s was a novelty. I was struck by how the pastors and the attendees so readily received Farrakhan’s obvious conflation of Koranic and Biblical theology. Clearly, he was deceiving the people and his reception was cult-like. It wasn’t until a few years later that I heard Farrakhan’s antisemitic rantings. I’ve lectured and written extensively about Farrakhan’s Jew hatred, including in my book Zionism & the Black Church.
Though Farrakhan’s speech provides much to unpack, I will focus on the final 5-6 minutes. This is how the conclusion begins:
“What I gave is prophecy that you can find in the Bible and Koran, that Israel is not gonna stay in the Middle East…and when that war triggers all of the countries that it will trigger, the war of Armageddon will be all over the earth. China will be involved. Russia will be involved…North Korea will be involved. And there’ll be no hiding place for anyone.”
Louis Farrakhan references the international war against Israel (at Armageddon) explained by the prophet Ezekiel and implies that the result of that war will be Israel’s removal. The Bible states the opposite result. Let’s be very clear, this is tantamount to calling God a liar. Shortly after making those statements, Farrakhan directly addressed Israeli officials attempting to reach Black American youth.
“[This younger generation of Black Americans] refuse to be controlled by the (pro-Israel) forces that controlled their fathers and their grandfathers. That is over! So, I say to Israel, ‘Leave the Black youth alone! Don't come into our community trying to kill us to satisfy your blood lust.’”
Let’s review. Louis Farrakhan:
1. Suggests that Armageddon means the end of Israel.
2. Infers that Black Israel supporters (many of whom base their sentiments on the Bible) are controlled by Israel/Jews.
3. Warns Israel to Leave the Black youth alone! after attempting to indoctrinate Black youth with false prophecies, and
4. Claims that Israel is trying to kill Black youth to satisfy your blood lust — yet another Jew-hating blood libel.
For over 3,500 years, leaders much more powerful than Minister Louis Farrakhan have declared the end of Israel – that the Jewish homeland would cease to exist. All of those leaders are gone. Israel is still here — and will always be here.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
Amos 9.14-15 14
Pastor Washington: first off - thank you for this powerful, eye-opening article.
Pls allow me to ask my US peeps: why is Farrakhan's every step, meeting, rally, public appearances and media interviews not dogged by hordes of Jewish and supporting protesters? What - is it only "wokeitude" when its inflicted on Jews and Israel?
Full disclosure:
Over a decade ago, when I working as a bureau chief for Georgia Public Broadcasting radio, there was an event that both astonished and deeply upset me - and pls remember: as a long-time reporter, both in Israel and the States, trust me: I've seen a lot.
One evening, Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Farrakhan, filled the enormous Atlanta Civic Center with an SRO crowd, calling out - among other items on his harangue to-do list - that the Jews were the source of all their woes, and... you can probably finish the screed yourself. If not, here's an ADL report on it: https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-slams-farrakhan-for-blaming-jews-for-financial-ruin-of-blacks
What most astonished me, however, was the indifferent shrug of Jews I tried to alert in the Orthodox Jewish area I was living in, in Atlanta at the time.
Please understand: I wasn't calling for local Jews to flee, screaming like their hair was aflame, or that mobs brandishing guns and firebombs were after them and their loved ones (that, as we've seen, all came later, anyway). But rather at least just to comprehend that the thousands of cheering people attending the Farrakhanatribe would internalize that horrific, hateful and slanderous message and pass it on in their collective 'mother's milk" to family, friends, and colleagues.
Remember: this wasn't a handful of people in a basement or a megaphone rant at a pro-Palestinian campus rally - this was the polished, monied, massive crowd of close to 5,000 NOI supporters.
And - just for the record - I didn't even bother pitching covering that story, rightly or wrongly presuming that it was far too incendiary and politically incorrect an issue for the station and network's leadership, listeners, and, most importantly donors: the white ones who were too innocously bored or terrified by the prospect, and blacks who were either chagrined - or secretly supportive of Farrakhan and his movement.
Thank you for your support of Israel