Episode 47: Zionism is not a friend of the Black community

First aired on 17 December 2022

The active use of the tropes about “black antisemitism” by Zionist groups in relation to recent controversies has a history. We trace the evolution of the anti-Arab and specifically anti-Black racism of the Zionist movement back to the 1960s and beyond.

Attacks on prominent black celebrities and activists for their “anti-Semitism” are not new. They have a history.

In fact, there have been attacks, led by Zionist groups, against practically all Black leaders or prominent figures of note from Marcus Garvey in the 1930s to today. His, alleged “antipathy to Jews” was denounced as were a whole host of Black leaders inspired by Garvey through to the 1960s.

One organisation key to all of these attacks, but by no means the only one is the Anti-Defamation League, created in 1913.

The full panopoly of Black reformist and revolutionary leaders were denounced by the ADL as “extremist” and “Jew-baiting” .

The Caribbean-born psychiatrist Frantz Fanon was denounced because of his alleged “hatred” for “Jews” and the “imperialist state of Israel”.

They also denounced Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, H. Rap Brown, the Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and the singer Miriam Makeba. Right up to the present day the ADL continues in denunciations of BLM.

One key complaint was that black denunciations of Zionist “manipulation” of the anti-racist movement as far back as the 1960s were a mask for anti-Semitism. In fact of course Zionist penetration of the anti-racist movement has had the effect that some groups have a blind spot on Palestine.

The denunciations have been accompanied by direct action. Since the 1930s at least the Anti-Defamation League has spied on black critics of racism and has directly collaborated with the FBI and other organs of the state to attack them.

In 1993, the San Francisco District Attorney investigated the ADL for collecting confidential information on nearly 10,000 activists and at least 700 organizations. The investigation showed that the ADL had directly surveilled and infiltrated social justice and human rights organizations, and its agents had received stolen police files from a surveillance program deemed illegal.

The ADL even spied on anti-Apartheid activists in the US and sold its intelligence to BOSS the intelligence agency of the South African Apartheid regime as well as providing information to Mossad.

For the ADL, the Black led anti-racist movement is a bigger threat to “Jewish” interests than the far right and white supremacists.

When Zionists complain about “black anti-semitism” they are really complaining about uppity black people, especially those who are critical or Israel and Zionism.