by: Oren Segal
March 31, 2016
The Nation of Islam (NOI) has published a series of interviews with anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracy theorists to support Farrakhan’s repeated claim that Jews are to blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The NOI’s Research Group published the hateful interviews on its website in response to ADL’s article in the Huffington Post Reconciliation Cannot Mean Turning a Blind Eye to Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism, an answer to Russell Simmons’ The Nation of Islam and the Anti-Defamation League—Now is the Time to Mend Fences.
In “9/11 Expert Responds To ADL Attack On Minister Farrakhan” (March 25), the “expert” the NOI interviewed to back up its hateful conspiracy theories is 9/11 truther and anti-Semite Kevin Barrett. Barrett, a former instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a columnist for the anti-Semitic website Veterans Today, where he has blamed Jews for the Charlie Hebdo attack, the creation of ISIS, the 2011 attacks in Norway that killed 77, the 2001 anthrax poisonings, among other things all supposedly perpetrated by Israel in order to “incite hatred of Muslims and solidarity with Israel.”
Statements made by Barrett in this NOI Research Group interview include:
- “The 9/11 false flag operation was designed to defame Arabs, Palestinians, and Muslims in general, in service to Israel.”
- “Israel’s Mossad…is the only intelligence agency with the means, motive, and opportunity to pull off 9/11 – a very complex cover-and-deception operation that had to have been overseen by an intelligence agency.”
- “Jewish Zionists, ranging from hard-line neocons to ‘liberal Zionists’…have led the cover-up of 9/11.”
- “But Americans would certainly find a way to peacefully put an end to the illegitimate entity [Israel] that not only attacked them on 9/11 but also has stolen trillions of dollars, dragged America into ruinous wars, destroyed our economy, and shredded our Constitution.”
In “Journalist Christopher Bollyn Backs Farrakhan On 9/11: Israel Did It!” (March 29) the NOI presents as an “expert” anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist Christopher Bollyn. Bollyn was one of the earliest promoters of anti-Semitic 9/11 theories blaming Israel and Jews for the attacks and wrote in his 2012 book that “The ‘false flag’ terrorism of 9/11 is a monstrous Jewish-Zionist crime of our time. The true culprits of this heinous crime are clearly being protected by a gang of like-minded Jewish Zionists in the highest positions of the U.S. government…” He has also written numerous other articles on his website that accuse Jews of controlling the media and government.
Bollyn stated the following to the NOI Research Group:
- “The best evidence tying Israel to the 9/11 atrocity is the fact that the key people involved in every aspect of the crime and the cover-up are Israelis and Zionists, from A to Z.”
- “The one-hundred percent consistency of Zionists and Israelis throughout the 9/11 saga provides compelling evidence that the crime is a Zionist/Israeli crime.”
- “…the most important thing is that we get the truth to a critical mass of the population...This is the only way we can remove the Zionist criminal cabal that controls our government and media.”
In “Scholar Backs Farrakhan on 9/11 (March 23), the “scholar” the NOI promotes is James Fetzer, one of the co-founders of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, an organization that is composed of academics and others who believe that the U.S. government played a role in the 9/11 attacks. Fetzer is also a columnist for the anti-Semitic website Veterans Today and has written articles in which he promotes anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Fetzer made the following statements in his interview with the NOI:
- “The plan appears to have originated in the fertile mind of Benjamin Netanyahu, who wanted to devise a plan to draw the United States into a war with the Arab nations that served as a counter-balance to Israel’s domination of the Middle East.”
- “9/11 was brought to us compliments of the CIA, the Neo-Cons in the Department of Defense and the Mossad.”
- “We present proof of Israeli and Zionist involvement from the security at the airports to the World Trade Center…and many others involved in setting the 9/11 stage and carrying it out."
The idea that Jews are to blame for 9/11 is nothing new for Farrakhan, who told his 2016 Saviours’ Day audience that the “Synagogue of Satan” is to blame for the Iraq War and 9/11. During his 2015 Saviours’ Day remarks, Farrakhan stated, “It is now becoming apparent that there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks.” The NOI’s Saviours’ Day provides Farrakhan with an annual platform to display his hatred for Jews.
Despite Farrakhan’s decades-long history of racism and anti-Semitism, Farrakhan continues to receive support from celebrities and elected officials. Farrakhan was also provided with a platform to promote anti-Semitism in Iran in February as a special guest at multiple high-level events, meeting with current and former Iranian government officials.