‘No one should be able to hide under the cover of almost a full-face mask to commit these atrocities against fellow New Yorkers,’ said Gov. Kathy Hochul.

By Luke Tress, JTA

Jewish and Black advocacy organizations came together to announce their support for a ban on masks at protests in New York State, linking contemporary antisemitism by masked attackers to past actions by hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Calls for a mask ban have gained momentum in recent weeks, as legislation has been introduced in Albany and the idea has the endorsement of Gov. Kathy Hochul as well as Mayor Eric Adams.

This week, Los Angeles’ mayor floated a similar ban after clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists outside a synagogue there.

The effort comes as antisemitism has surged in New York City and as pro-Palestinian street protests, often by demonstrators wearing masks, have roiled the Jewish community.

Law enforcement has said masking among demonstrators has hindered prosecution of crimes linked to demonstrations — such as the occupation of a Columbia University building earlier this year.

“This is not about political speech,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said at a Thursday press conference outside Columbia University announcing the joint effort to ban masks at protests.

“What we’re talking about today aren’t activists, they’re antagonists,” Greenblatt said, charging protesters with “hiding their identities behind masks so that they can menace their fellow Americans with impunity.”

A proposed mask ban has been gaining traction in New York, particularly following an incident earlier this month when masked protesters in a subway car chanted “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist.”

That same evening protesters, many of them masked, demonstrated outside an exhibit commemorating the Nova music festival massacre in a rally widely condemned as antisemitic.

“People have a right to be safe on our public transportation, walking down the streets in their places of worship,” Hochul said in an interview with MSNBC.

“And no one should be able to hide under the cover of almost a full-face mask to commit these atrocities against fellow New Yorkers. That’s where we have to draw the line.”

Pro-Palestinian and leftist groups have pushed back against the anti-masking effort, calling it an infringement on the right to free assembly as well as a risk to the immunocompromised.

The progressive advocacy group Jews for Economic and Racial Justice announced an effort called Jews for Mask Rights to oppose the legislation.

“In addition to offering the NYPD another reason to stop and harass people, a mask ban gives the NYPD further excuse to claim arrests made at whim are justified,” JFREJ executive director Audrey Sasson said in a Thursday statement.

“This proposed law is not about safety but about controlling the bodily autonomy of and further marginalizing those who hold currently unpopular political views.”

The pro-ban coalition of Black and Jewish groups, called Unmask Hate NY, is backing legislation to bar most masking at protests which was introduced in the New York State Assembly by Bronx Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish.

The effort has the backing of the ADL, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the NAACP, prominent Harlem pastor Johnnie Green, the National Urban League, the UJA-Federation of New York and other state-level lawmakers.

In a statement, Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, cited the Ku Klux Klan’s white hoods in her endorsement of a mask ban. Several states enacted mask bans in the past in order to hinder the hate group’s activities.

“Black communities know all too well that individuals who hide their identities with intent to terrorize, intimidate or harass are a threat to all of our safety and have no place in New York,” Dukes said in a statement.

“Reinstating New York’s masking laws will protect New Yorkers from some of the most terrifying periods in our history; when the Klan menaced Black Americans, faces covered, without accountability. We can’t let history repeat itself.”

Dinowitz’s legislation, which is still being finalized, says it aims to “remove the cloak of anonymity from individuals who commit aggressive actions against others during a lawful or unlawful assembly or riot.”

The proposed legislation makes exemptions for masks and face coverings worn for medical and religious reasons.

New York State had an anti-masking law in place dating back to the 1800s, but scrapped the bill in 2020 as masking became widespread to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

The Ku Klux Klan unsuccessfully challenged the previous law in the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2004.

Dinowitz’s bill has not yet come to a vote in the State Assembly, but he hopes to see it passed by the beginning of next year.

“Since Oct. 7, antisemitism hasn’t spiked, it’s skyrocketed, and we cannot allow people who are hateful to conceal their identities,” he said at the Thursday briefing, adding that the law was “not focused on any particular group.”

New York State lawmakers Brian Cunningham of Brooklyn and Nily Rozic of Queens, who is Israeli, also spoke in favor of the legislation at Thursday’s briefing.

Law enforcement has said masking has impeded some investigations into criminal conduct by protesters. Last week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office dropped charges against most of the protesters who forcibly took over a building at Columbia University in April.

One of the reasons the charges were dropped was a lack of evidence against individuals who were wearing masks, making them difficult to identify in security footage, the D.A.’s office told the New York Jewish Week.

Along with JFREJ, other left-wing and pro-Palestinian groups — as well as free-speech advocates — are mobilizing to protest a potential ban.

A group of anti-Israel activist groups announced a Saturday rally outside Hochul’s office, calling the proposal “a clear infringement on the rights of the people.”

The activist groups often encourage followers to wear masks at protests, and many wear keffiyehs, a scarf that has become a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement.

“No mask ban. No Zionist collaboration. Develop the summer of resistance,” an advertisement for the rally said. “Mask up, bring rage and solidarity.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group that has also criticized some pro-Palestinian protest activities, likewise voiced concern, saying anonymity was core to free-speech protections in the Constitution.

“The First Amendment protects the right to speak anonymously, shielding individuals from retaliation for expressing dissenting or unpopular ideas,” Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public advocacy, told the New York Jewish Week.

“While some people may wear masks to conceal their identity while engaging in illegal activity, that does not justify an overly broad mask ban that criminalizes lawful expressive activity.”

Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League and a former mayor of New Orleans, told the New York Jewish Week that protesters’ fears of doxxing were not “unreasonable,” and that “no one should lose their job, their standing, their status because they exercise their constitutional right.”

But he supports a mask ban, tying it to when the Ku Klux Klan targeted his family while he was growing up in the South.

“The KKK sprayed its insignia on our home,” he said, adding that his family had received death threats from hooded agitators. “The First Amendment and the right to peacefully assemble should not mean masks or disguises while protesting.”

Greenblatt said the comparison between that experience and today’s protests resonated with him.

“It’s a lot like what we’re seeing here in New York, here and now with these masked protesters marching down Broadway, so I think the parallels are there,” he said. “Our communities have always been partners.”

Pastor Johnnie Green of the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem said his support for the legislation was not an “endorsement” of the war in Gaza, and that he backed anti-masking out of solidarity with the Jewish community.

“We are here to stand with our Jewish friends who have been attacked by masked individuals,” Green said. “I’m not afraid of repercussions.”

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The NAACP, which has advocated for racial justice and rights for Black Americans, said the US must use its influence with Israel to bring a permanent ceasefire to Gaza.

By The Algemeiner and Reuters

The NAACP urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to “indefinitely” halt all weapons deliveries to Israel and pressure the US ally to end its war in the Gaza Strip, sending a reminder that his support for Israel could hurt him among Black voters in November’s election.

The NAACP’s call was a rare instance of the influential civil rights organization taking a position on US foreign policy towards a country without a significant Black population.

It appeared likely to deepen the Democratic president’s election-year challenges as he tries to back a key ally abroad and temper unrest among his supporters at home.

The 115-year-old civil rights group said Israel had a right to defend itself after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

The NAACP urged Hamas to return the hostages and “stop all terrorist activity.” It also urged Israel to “commit to an offensive strategy that is aligned with international and humanitarian laws.”

Israel has been waging a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying the Palestinian terrorist group, which rules the coastal enclave.

Critics have falsely accused the Israeli military of committing genocide against Palestinians during its operations in Gaza.

The NAACP, which has advocated for racial justice and rights for Black Americans, said the US must use its influence with Israel to bring a permanent ceasefire to Gaza.

“The NAACP calls on President Biden to draw the red line and indefinitely end the shipment of all weapons and artillery to the state of Israel and other states that supply weapons to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. It is imperative that the violence that has claimed so many civilian lives, immediately stop,” the organization said in a statement first provided to Reuters.

The NAACP stance represents the latest warning sign that Biden may pay a price at the ballot box among Black voters on Nov. 5 for his staunch support of Israel.

Black voters have long been a loyal Democratic constituency, and they played a significant role in Biden’s victory in 2020 when he beat Republican Donald Trump, whom he faces again this year. But polls show a lack of enthusiasm for Biden among Black voters.

Earlier this year, a group of more than 1,000 Black pastors called on Biden to secure a ceasefire in the crisis.

A poll by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March found that 59 percent of Black Americans believe US military aid to Israel should only be used for self defense and in accordance with human rights standards.

Biden’s re-election campaign is not as concerned that Black voters will shift toward Trump as they are that too many of them may sit out the election due to lack of enthusiasm, campaign officials have told Reuters.

After growing domestic pressure and international outrage, Biden paused a shipment of bombs last month to avoid their possible use in Israel‘s operations in the Gaza city of Rafah. But the pause was limited, and the US remains the top supplier of military aid to Israel.

Biden on Friday said Israel proposed a fresh Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages. He called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict. “It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,” Biden said.

NAACP LEADER CALLS FOR US MORAL LEADERSHIP

In an interview with Reuters, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the US needs to show moral leadership and stop sending weapons to Israel because of civilian deaths.

Israel says it takes care to avoid civilian casualties and blames Hamas for, it says, hiding its fighters and command centers among civilians.

Johnson said the NAACP’s decision to speak out was driven in part by young Black Americans horrified by the images of dead Palestinian civilians on their smart phones.

“It’s raising a lot of questions around why our tax dollars are being used to harm civilians,” Johnson said.

Democrats are deeply divided over Biden’s handling of both the war in Gaza and the US campus protests against it, a May Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Some 44 percent of Democratic registered voters said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the crisis. Those who disapproved were less likely to say they would vote for Biden.

The conflict has also stoked US antisemitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia that Johnson said will continue to grow as the fighting continues. Antisemitic incidents have reached record levels in the US since Oct. 7.

Johnson said the NAACP does not believe Biden’s support for Israel is responsible for the trend but wants the US to more forcefully advance peace by withholding weapons.

“We believe … it’s the responsibility of this nation to chart a course to de-escalate what we are seeing so that there can be a peaceful resolution,” Johnson said.

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CAIR has no issue denouncing anti-Jewish hate by white supremacists or the Nation of Islam, but its members are reluctant to condemn the same offenses from Arab or South Asian Sunni Muslims.

By Leonard Getz, JNS

In a rare move, the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) joined a chorus of criticism aimed at a local black Muslim leader who posted anti-Semitic tropes to his social media.

Rodney Muhammad, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a local Nation of Islam leader, shared an insulting image of a Jewish caricature on Twitter with a caption explaining: “To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”

“We need to unequivocally reject anti-Semitism,” CAIR-Philadelphia wrote in response on Facebook.

But less than 24 hours later, CAIR-Philadelphia executive director Jacob Bender, a Jewish American, co-wrote an article that contains an even more shameful anti-Semitic assault, falsely accusing American Jews of using the Holocaust to deflect criticism of Israel.

Even though the article was primarily about a spat between Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ted Yoho (D-Fla.)—a topic that has nothing to do with Israel—Bender’s anti-Semitism is so entrenched that he couldn’t resist using the opportunity to make a grotesque accusation against American Jews. Bender wrote that Jewish Americans “will argue that slavery is dwarfed by the Holocaust” and engage in “counting the corpses competition.”

“[W]ithin the American Jewish community, untold resources have been utilized in maintaining the priority of the Holocaust, where the Nazi genocide is often employed as a weapon to delegitimize criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and relabeling this criticism as anti-Semitism,” he added.

The similarity between Muhammad’s anti-Semitism and Bender’s statement is glaring. Both fallaciously accuse Jews of possessing overwhelming power, which they freely exploit to oppress, intimidate and stamp out worldwide criticism of Jews and Israel.

While Bender makes it appear as if his only gripe with Israel is out of concern for the “human rights” of the Palestinian Arabs, he has gone on record as a CAIR leader expressing full support for the BDS movement, which its founder, Omar Barghouti, fully admits was founded to wipe Israel off the map.

Under the guise of Jewish-Muslim rapprochement following the shooting attack on Chabad of Poway, Calif., Bender collectively slandered American Jews for not supporting the “BDS movement against Israel.” In fact, Bender admits that he opposes the very existence of Israel, calling the idea of the Jewish state “a mythology about ‘a people without a land for a land without people.’ ”

To him, Israel resembles 1964 Mississippi and refers to the creation of the Jewish state as the nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe.”

As with Muhammad, Bender is echoing classic anti-Semitic tropes. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an organization consisting of leading educators and academics from 34 member countries, examples of anti-Semitism include: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.” Thus, it’s hard to take Bender’s criticism of Muhammad seriously.

Bender’s statement is in line with numerous other examples of CAIR’s anti-Semitism. The organization urged supporters to lobby against the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2019,” legislation directing the U.S. Department of Education to adopt the same IHRA definition of anti-Semitism that the U.S. State Department embraced in 2016.

CAIR leaders have consistently claimed that Jews control the U.S. government, such as when CAIR executive director Nihad Awad told a Muslim Students Association audience to consider the Jewish origin of many Clinton administration officials. In addition, the Muslim civil-advocacy organization sought to widely distribute a version of the Koran approved by radical Wahhabi clerics, even though a Los Angeles school district banned it from local schools for being anti-Semitic.

The same bigotry exists at CAIR-Philadelphia, which has a history of downplaying anti-Semitism from local Islamists. When the Philadelphia branch of the Muslim American Society (MAS) uploaded a video of children singing, “We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Bender said the incident “was not an example of radicalization.”

MAS is a fellow Islamist organization tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, and it’s difficult to imagine Bender giving similar latitude to, say, a white-supremacist group.

When Imam Abdelimohsen Abouhaab delivered three anti-Semitic sermons at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in North Philadelphia, not only was CAIR-Philadelphia silent about it, but it rewarded the mosque leader by hosting him at its upcoming banquet.

While CAIR has no issue denouncing anti-Jewish hate by white supremacists or the Nation of Islam—a black separatist, pseudo-Islamic religious movement—its members are reluctant to condemn the same offenses from Arab or South Asian Sunni Muslims.

In a rare occurrence in 2018, CAIR-New Jersey denounced statements from an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) official who repeated the classic anti-Semitic trope that Ashkenazi Jews are not ethnically Jewish. However, after experiencing pushback from AMP and its Islamist supporters, CAIR corrected its previous statement and insisted that it “did not condemn” its close ally AMP.

It is easy to guess why CAIR would give a free pass to AMP, an allied Islamist organization that hails from the same pan-Islamic Muslim Brotherhood network as CAIR, while holding a Nation of Islam leader accountable for offenses that Bender and his colleagues commit with regularity. As with many African American Muslims, Nation of Islam members have been pushed to the social and political fringes by immigrant Islamist organizations. Economic disparities have been a source of ongoing tension between these co-religionists, and many American mosques are divided along lines of class and race.

These divisions, as well as CAIR’s undeniable hypocrisy when it comes to anti-Jewish bigotry, places the civil-rights group in a poor position to lecture fellow Muslims about anti-Semitism.

Indeed, just five days after Muhammad’s anti-Semitic tweet, the preacher’s Nation of Islam congregation posted a message to Facebook accusing “Jewish scholars and rabbis” of “using the Black Man and Woman as scapegoats for their own economic and political advancement.” Another recent post blamed the Aug. 23 police shooting of a black man in Kenosha, Wis., on joint training between American and Israeli law enforcement.

More than a month after state leaders such as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia in calling for Muhammad’s resignation, the national NAACP announced plans to replace the chapter’s current leadership. This is a great first step in recognizing the systemic anti-Semitism that permeates some local community organizations.

Still, Philadelphia leaders must be consistent in denouncing anti-Semitism, and they can start by taking a stand against CAIR for its own atrocious history of anti-Jewish hate.

Leonard Getz, CPA, is the Pennsylvania associate with the Counter-Islamist Grid, a project of the Middle East Forum. He is also a freelance writer and the author of the book “From Broadway to the Bowery.”

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Whether the national leadership likes it or not, their point man in Philadelphia has embraced a view of the Jewish people that would sit happily with any and every white supremacist.

By Ben Cohen, JNS

Imagine the following scenario. The regional director of a mainstream Jewish organization in a city that is home to sizable Jewish and black communities starts sharing ugly, racist caricatures of African-Americans on social media. In a speech at a local synagogue, this same person denounces the influence of African-Americans on our broader culture as “Satanic.” Then, when this outrageous behavior becomes the subject of media attention, that individual refuses to resign from their post and even retains the backing of their organization.

You can’t seriously imagine something like this because it wouldn’t happen outside of an alternate universe. The core ethics of every American Jewish organization would be utterly violated by such expressions of naked racial hatred, and the person responsible would be suspended immediately, and most likely, fired. That is how it should be.

Unfortunately, the inverse version of this imagined example is all too real. In Philadelphia, the local president of the NAACP, Rodney Muhammad, has offered only a grudging semi-apology, alongside an adamant refusal to step down from his post after a grotesquely anti-Semitic image that he shared on his Facebook page garnered wider attention.

In the two-week long furor that followed, the NAACP remained mum on Muhammad’s provocations at the same time as Pennsylvania’s governor, its attorney general, and local black and Jewish leaders were calling on Muhammad to do the right thing and step down.

Last Thursday, the NAACP finally broke its silence. In a statement that was emailed to the Philadelphia Tribune, its national spokeswoman, Austyn Ross, relayed that the organization’s national leadership was “saddened and deeply disappointed by the harm caused by Mr. Muhammad’s actions” and that Muhammad “now recognizes the offensive nature of the imagery and post.”

“Hate speech has no place at the NAACP, and such language and imagery are reprehensible,” Ross said in the statement.

To properly consider the NAACP’s response, we need to step back for a moment and revisit Rodney Muhammad’s presence on social media. The Facebook post that got him into trouble showed the faces of three celebrities who recently made anti-Semitic statements (Ice Cube, Nick Cannon and DeSean Jackson) above a cartoon of a hook-nosed Jew wearing an evil grin and rubbing his hands together in glee.

It is exactly the kind of image one would expect to find on a neo-Nazi website, as exactly the same image of Jews was promoted in the gutter press of Nazi Germany itself. So when a Jewish person encounters such an image, it’s often the immediate connection that is made. And if it is accompanied by fear, that is because of the knowledge of where these vile images led in the recent past.

I doubt that Rodney Muhammad grasps this fact. As a follower of the Nation of Islam, he will doubtless deflect the charge of appropriating Nazi imagery by referring to the views of his master, Louis Farrakhan, on the Holocaust of 6 million Jews.

According to Farrakhan, who pals around with Holocaust deniers among other conspiracy kooks, the Holocaust was just another Jewish swindle. “International bankers financed Hitler and poor Jews died while big Jews were at the root of what you call the Holocaust,” Farrakhan declared in 1995. “Little Jews died while big Jews made money. Little Jews were turned into soap while big Jews washed themselves with it.”

It’s hard to think of an accusation filthier than one that accuses a nation of slaughtering its own for the purpose of making money. Yet that is what Farrakhan believes is true of the Jewish people, and it is therefore what Muhammad believes and will continue to believe as long as he remains in the ranks of the Nation of Islam.

Indeed, in case there was any doubt about Muhammad’s opinion of Jews, it should be pointed out that his record of anti-Semitic agitation stretches beyond a single post on Facebook. In a post on Twitter defending Farrakhan’s July 4 message, Muhammad reached for the charge of deicide—the eternal culpability of the Jewish nation for the death of Jesus at the hands of the Romans—as a stick to beat his opponents. “The Sahedrin (sic) shout to create mob pyschology to crucify Jesus,” he ranted.

Similarly, on the website of the Nation of Islam’s Mosque No. 12 Philadelphia, where Muhammad presides, numerous videos are available in which speakers matter-of-factly outline Farrakhan’s conceptualization of Hollywood’s hold on the American public as the “Synagogue of Satan.”

None of this is very subtle—and that is what makes the NAACP’s response so bitterly disappointing. If Muhammad’s target had been the State of Israel, the NAACP’s leadership would probably have retorted that “criticizing” the Jewish state isn’t the same thing as anti-Semitism, but no such feeble get-out clauses exist in this case. Whether the NAACP national leadership likes it or not, their point man in Philadelphia has embraced a view of the Jewish people that would sit happily with any and every white supremacist.

Another opportunity for the NAACP to get rid of Muhammad still lies ahead. On Aug. 15, its Pennsylvania state conference executive committee meets, which would allow its 30 members a legitimate platform to give Muhammad the boot. One NAACP supporter quoted by the Tribune acknowledged that there were “a lot of people in the state organization who want him out.”

Let us hope those people prevail. In the meantime, Jewish organizations should freeze all contact with the NAACP until Rodney Muhammad is a part of its past. For when it comes to base and crude anti-Semitism like this, no other stance is credible.

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NAACP said Rodney Muhammad, who recently promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy online, will meet with community leaders “open a dialogue.”

By JNS

The national leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rebuked the president of its Philadelphia branch, Rodney Muhammad, but stopped short of firing him, for sharing an anti-Semitic meme a couple weeks ago in defense of black celebrities who have come under fire lately for anti-Semitism.

The NAACP’s leadership was “saddened and deeply disappointed by the harm caused by Mr. Muhammad’s actions” and believed that Muhammad “now recognizes the offensive nature of the imagery and post,” NAACP spokesperson Austyn Ross told The Philadelphia Tribune on Wednesday.

“Hate speech has no place at the NAACP, and such language and imagery are reprehensible,” said Ross, who added that NAACP president Derrick Johnson and Muhammad will meet with faith and community leaders in the coming weeks to “open a dialogue and continue the educational conversations.”

Meanwhile, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said on Aug. 2 that it will no longer work with the Philadelphia NAACP as long as Muhammad is there.

“While Mr. Muhammad still has yet to fully apologize for his most recent actions, an examination of the social-media channels maintained by him and the mosque he leads shows an alarming amount of bigoted and anti-Jewish sentiments,” said the Federation in a statement. “While we are willing to engage in dialogue with NAACP national president Derrick Johnson, the Pennsylvania Conference and other local NAACP chapters, our obligation to oppose hate and discrimination will prevent us from working with the Philadelphia chapter while Mr. Muhammad is employed there.”

In his second official statement since the backlash began, Muhammad said on July 30, “I do regret the insult, pain and offense it caused to all, particularly those of the Jewish community by this unfortunate episode. Our aim now is to engage in thoughtful, meaningful and we hope productive dialogue between our communities.”

‘They use it as a trick’

On his Facebook page, Rodney Muhammad shared the meme, which has pictures of rapper Ice Cube, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, and actor/rapper/TV host Nick Cannon—all of whom have lately been accused of anti-Semitism and/or posting anti-Semitic rhetoric—with a caricature below of a Jewish man with a long and crooked nose wearing a kipah that is engraved on the wrist with a large, bejeweled hand pushing down on a group of people.

The meme includes a quote misattributed to the French philosopher Voltaire: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”

The quote is actually attributed to American neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and white supremacist Kevin Strom.

The meme suggested that the pushback against Ice Cube, Jackson and Cannon, as well as apologies from the latter two, was part of a controversy orchestrated by Jews.

When contacted by a reporter, Muhammad deleted the post, initially claiming that he didn’t recall sharing it. He eventually acknowledged the meme, but noted that he didn’t know that the image was anti-Semitic, reported local PBS affiliate WHYY.

“To be real honest with you, I didn’t even pay attention to the picture,” he said.

Muhammad, who also goes by “Rodney Carpenter,” did not apologize, instead saying that black people were being silenced by “members of it in agencies with other agendas” that decry anti-Semitism as a way to rebuke people.

“They use it as a trick,” he said. “If you’re in Europe and you criticize any of them like that, or if you’re in America, it’s anti-Semitism.”

Muhammad has praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has an extensive history of anti-Jewish rhetoric, on social media.

In a 2012 interview with Loyola University in Chicago, Muhammad slammed the Jewish people for their rebuke of Farrakhan’s statements.

“This is how much they think of themselves, that we’re supposed to [be] prioritizing their concerns before we deal with ours,” he told the interviewer. “What arrogance, man? That’s arrogance!”

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