Reaching out to Harlem’s black community April 9, 74-year-old Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was thrown for a loop by ranting anti-Semitic member of Black Lives Matters at the Apollo Theater. Demanding Berinie explain his relationship “with your Jewish community,” spewing the same anti-Semitic rhetoric as Chicago-based, 82-year-old Bronx native Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. Founded in Detroit, Michigan July 4, 1930 by Elijah Muhammed, the controversial black Islamic church preached a more militant form of religion for the African American community. Bernie looked dumbfounded responding to Black Lives Matters’ John Prince, spewing the same vile anti-Semitism seen before the Nazi Holocaust that massacred 6 million European Jews. Sanders surrendered his mike to Black Lives Matters at a rally August 9, 2015.
Instead of dealing with a disruptive protester last August, Sanders let Black Lives Matters hijack his rally. “You went to Israel for a year. As you know, Zionist Jews—I don’t mean to offend anybody—they running the Federal Reserve, they running Wall Street, they’re running everything,” said Prince, referring to the Jews. Fed a steady diet of anti-Semitism by Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, Black groups have been brainwashed much like old Europeans—and even Americans—regurgitating pernicious propaganda from anti-Semitic books, like “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” claiming Jews were taking over the world. Used by anti-Semites as notable as Henry Ford in his book “The International Jew,” or Adolf Hitler’s bestseller “Mein Kamph,” Farrakhan has spewed anti-Semitism for years, blaming black’s unfortunate plight on the Jewish community.
Seeking black voters less than two-weeks out from the New York primary, Sanders was hard-pressed to respond to such vile anti-Semitism. Prince repeated the Nation of Islam’s talking points on Jews, blaming a religion for oppressing black people. ‘No, no, no, no, no, that’s not what you’re asking. I’m proud to be Jewish,” said Sanders not calling Prince out for spewing intolerable anti-Semitic slogans about the Jews controlling the world. Fearing he’d offend African American voters, Sanders didn’t deal with the ethnic slurs and unacceptable stereotypes. “I may be Jewish, but your not going to find any candidate running for president, for example, to talk about Zionism and the Middle East,” said Sanders, trying to defuse Prince’s claims. Prince needed Sanders to call him out for hate speech, not try to explain how he’s more even-handed dealing with Palestinians.
Blindsided by Prince’s comments, Sanders tried to win over the black audience. “I am a strong defender of Israel, but we have got to pay attention to the needs of Palestinians,” said Bernie. “We’re going to have to treat both sides with respect and equality,” completely ignoring the racial stereotyping and outright anti-Semitism. “They’re buying Harlem,” screamed Prince, referring to alleged Jewish real estate development displacing African Americans. Sanders needed to tell the audience he deplores bigotry where he sees it, including in misguided members of the African American community. Talking about how he’s sympathetic to the Palestinian cause lost Bernie votes in New York. No one in Harlem’s African American community cares about the plight of Palestinians. Bernie should have reminded the audience about Israel’s close ties with the U.S. war on terror.
Letting a Black Lives Matters heckler hijack his platform for a second time shows Bernie’s inability to put his foot down on with rabble-rousers. Letting a bigot hijack his speech at the Apollo Theater shows the kind of weakness not suitable for the White House. Instead of giving Black Lives Maters a voice, Sanders should have told the audience he holds no allegiance to anyone other than the U.S. Constitution. Whatever success ethnic or racial groups have in America, there’s not place for racial, ethnic or religious bigotry. Watching Bernie’s talk hijacked at the Apollo Theater, his black Press Secretary Symone Sanders tried to rescue him. “We can talk about it tomorrow,” said Sanders, trying to stop Prince’s anti-Semitic rant. “Why don’t we talk about the Zionist Jews that own every major corporation and media company,” said Prince, refusing to stop his anti-Semitic diatribe.
Sanders didn’t handle Prince’s anti-Semitic rant because he’s too busy competing with Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for New York’s black votes. Bernie faces and uphill battle making up lost ground before New York’s April 19 primary. Refusing to deal with Prince’s race-bating, Sander’s lost a golden opportunity to show his leadership. Instead of asking security to stop Prince’s rant, Sanders tried to justify his outrageous anti-Semitic nonsense. “I want to know why a 74-year-old Jewish man doesn’t want to talk about his religion,” said Prince, continuing his Farrakhan-like anti-Semitic rant, without any attempt by Bernie to set the record straight. Bernie should have told Prince there’s no place for bigotry by any racial, ethnic or religious group, at any of his political events. Allowing Prince to spout off showed the price paid for pandering to New York’s black votes.
