Prominent Jewish leaders are free to continue calling Louis Farrakhan — the leader of the black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam — an anti-Semite, according to a New York court.
The Nation of Islam has sued the Anti-Defamation League and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center for $4.8 billion, alleging that the Jewish organizations violated the First Amendment rights of the Nation of Islam by calling Farrakhan's repeated unflattering comments about Jews “anti-Semitic.”
In recent years, Farrakhan has publicly compared Jews to termites, accused the “Synagogue of Satan” of wrapping its tentacles around the US government, and claimed that “pedophilia and sexual deviance” in Hollywood can be traced to “Jewish influence.”
In dismissing the case, Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Dennis Cote held that the anti-Semitism allegations were based on direct quotes from Farrakhan and that there was no evidence that calling him an anti-Semite harmed the Nation of Islam.
“We are grateful that the judicial system in the United States has recognized and upheld our First Amendment right to confront anti-Semitism and speak out about it,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement issued Monday. He described the lawsuit as a “not-so-veiled attempt to silence” Jewish voices.
In a video speech posted on the Nation of Islam's website in the fall, Farrakhan said that everything he said about Jews “is the absolute truth” and that “despicable” allegations of anti-Semitism had cost him and other members of his organization jobs in the United States. Media and other business opportunities.
“With their influence on the media, these false accusations spread throughout the land,” Farrakhan added.
