When one thinks of termites, one thinks of the little insects that can cause severe damage to a person’s home. Yet, after Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan tweeted, “I am not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-Termite,” Twitter has refused to suspend his account.
The comparison of Jews to termites is obviously derogatory — if actual termites can destroy a house, then Jews can destroy a society. What Farrakhan thought was a cute little rhyme is apparently not enough to get him ousted from Twitter, despite their new policy that they will ban “language that treats others as less than human.… Examples can include comparing groups to animals and viruses (animalistic), or reducing groups to a tool for some other purpose (mechanistic).”
Twitter has protested that their new rules are not yet in effect, but that did not stop the social-media giant from banning Alex Jones. Jones’ conspiracy theories are apparently worse — at least to the folks who run Twitter — than comparing the Jews to a destructive insect.
This is not the first time that Farrakhan has demonstrated his hatred of the Jews, tweeting this past summer, “Thoroughly and completely unmasking the Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan.” That did result in Twitter removing Farrakhan’s special verified status.
With special verified status, Twitter assigns a blue verified badge, letting its subscribers know that the account is an “authentic” account of public interest. If an account does not have the badge next to their name, it is not considered a “verified” account. All sorts of accounts have the badge, which is assigned by Twitter, including accounts that tweet in areas of government, politics, and religion.
But at least Farrakhan gets to continue to tweet out his vitriolic remarks, a privilege that has been taken away from Jones.
Farrakhan taunted Jews publicly at a rally on Sunday in Detroit, celebrating the 23rd anniversary of the so-called Million Man March in Washington, D.C. While Farrakhan claimed that he had achieved his goal of a million men on the National Mall, the National Park Service put the number closer to 400,000.
New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), who is Jewish, dismissed those such as Farrakhan that often argue they are not anti-Jewish, but just anti-Israel. “Farrakhan’s vile statements against Whites and Jews have been ignored by my fellow Democrats,” Hikind said Wednesday. “There is nothing subtle about this modern-day Goebbels’ hatred. This racist doesn’t even hide behind an anti-Israel statement; he just publicly attacks Jews and the Jewish religion, and works to incite hatred and racism among his followers. Even worse, Democrats continue to give him a pass. Former President Bill Clinton sat next to him at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. It was appalling!”
It certainly was, but it was not unique. During his unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid, Jesse Jackson even called New York City “Hymietown” because of what he considered the excessive Jewish influence in Democratic Party politics. Even then-Senator Barack Obama met with Farrakhan, along with the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus in 2005. Photographs of Obama and Farrakhan together were long suppressed, as it was thought that any association with the radical Farrakhan — who has denounced “capitalism” — would have damaged Obama’s chances of winning the White House when he ran the first time in 2008.
Farrakhan made strong remarks specifically referring to American Jews at the Detroit rally. “So, when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you know they do, call me an anti-Semite — stop it! I’m anti-termite! I don’t know nothing about hating somebody because of their religious preference.”
But the Jews should not feel alone. He also attacked white people in general, and new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in particular.
One has to wonder if Democrats refuse to condemn Farrakhan because they are afraid that it would alienate those who see Farrakhan as some type of leader in the black community, or if he actually represents their anti-Jewish viewpoint, or even if it is that they dislike Jews and Christians alike. After all, Democrat senators have even questioned the fitness of Christians to serve on the federal bench, or even at the Office of Management and Budget. Amy Comey Barrett was told by Senator Dianne Feinstein, “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern when you come to big issues.” Senator Bernie Sanders vowed to vote against a nominee to the Office of Management and Budget simply because the nominee had previously expressed the view that a person must believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Since Feinstein and Sanders are both Jewish, it would be especially ironic if they don’t condemn Farrakhan’s remarks.
For whatever reason, Twitter has determined that calling human beings insects is acceptable on their site, but right-wing conspiracy views are not. Unfortunately, this view appears to fit with the trend among leftists that Christians and Jews are persons who should not have a place on public social-media platforms.
Photo: AP Images
