The Black Hebrew Israelites movement is considered a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League.
By World Israel News Staff
Investigators believe that the man and woman who killed three people at a Jersey City kosher market and a police officer on Dec. 10, had ties to the anti-Semitic Black Hebrew Israelites movement.
In a Saturday write-up for the New York Post, reporter Princess Jones helps shine a light on the Black Hebrew Israelites movement, by recounting her experience of once attending a sermon at the world headquarters of the movements in New York City.
Jones, a relative of a Black Hebrew Israelite member in North Carolina, wanted to know more about the movement after watching a viral video in January of a confrontation between a group of Catholic school students and Black Hebrew Israelite street preachers during the March for Life at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
After being allowed entry by the doorkeeper, Jones was asked by him if she was on her period.
“I wasn’t, but they must have noticed my look of shock, and explained to me that women on their periods are considered ‘unclean’ and barred from religious services,” Jones wrote.
“Before they allowed me to pass, I was searched for drugs and weapons with a metal detector. They asked me to open my purse, and demanded that I hand over my cellphone. When I asked why, they responded, ‘for security reasons,'” she added.
As she entered the sanctuary she was greeted by two “high priests” dressed “in long purple vests with gold piping and puffy white shirts.”
“On the wall behind them was a large plaque with their version of the 12 tribes of Israel: the ‘Negroes’ belong to the tribe of Judah, the Cubans to Manasseh; West Indians to Benjamin; Native Americans to Gad; the Haitians to Levi, and so on,” Jones wrote.
Jones wasn’t shocked to hear what the high priest decided to speak about, because she had already been told beforehand from her relative in North Carolina what the movement’s doctrine is all about.
“Basically, it amounted to this: Everything I had been taught in my Christian faith was a lie. Blacks were the ‘true’ children of God. We were the lost Israelite tribes. We could go to heaven if we followed the Ten Commandments and stayed away from eating pork and shellfish, among other beliefs. White people were our oppressors,” Jones wrote.
However, Jones thought it strange that the high priest skipped around the Scripture to justify his version of the word of God. Noticing her puzzlement, the high priest explained to her that “it’s how you get understanding of the word.”
Toward the end of the service, one of the high priests present reminded everyone that the church was there to help with any emotional issues if needed.
Jones believes that the priest did so because he was worried about bad publicity associated with the religion since the church is considered a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League.