From The Final Call Newspaper

A beacon of love and laughter Family – Friends gather to honor ‘Brother Josh’

By The Final Call
- November 28, 2023





by Toure Muhammad and Shawntell Muhammad

CHICAGO—People traveled near and far to commemorate the life of Brother Joshua Nasir Farrakhan, the fifth child of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam, family and friends gathered on Nov. 25 with his beloved parents and to celebrate the foresight, commitment and contributions of Bro. Joshua to the Nation of Islam. Bro. Joshua returned to Allah on Nov. 18 at the age of 64.

The service, which was also streamed online included words of comfort and the janazah (Islamic funeral service) held at Mosque Maryam in Chicago. Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, the National Assistant to Minister Farrakhan, delivered a beautiful, reflective message to the hundreds gathered in the sanctuary and the countless others that tuned in via internet webcast.

Muhammad Farrakhan shares a moment with his grandfather. Photo: Abdul K. Muhammad

With words that seemed to resonate with everyone’s sentiment in attendance, Stevie Wonder, who attended the service said he came “because I love him.”

Attendees included local and national notables such as Rev. Jesse Jackson and his son U.S. Congressman Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.), Muhammad Ali’s aide, companion and friend Gene Kilroy, hip hop pioneers Doug E. Fresh, Chuck D and Eric B, activist Afrika Porter, activist Wallace “Gator” Bradley and Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church who thanked God for knowing Bro. Joshua.

Father Pfleger said Bro. Joshua had “a heart the size of Soldiers’ Field.”

“He’d always tell you exactly what he thought,” Father Pfleger reminisced on a man he said was unapologetically genuine. “He was consistent, always faithful and just a strong brother. I thank God I got to know him. The deposit he made in my life was his commitment, his faithfulness, his love of his father and the love of his father’s work,” he told The Final Call.

“We thank God for his blessing, his earnestness, his care, his compassion, and we celebrate him today,” said Rep. Jackson.

Mr. Kilroy attributed Joshua Farrakhan with saving his life. Ten years ago, the doctors gave him three months to live. Bro. Joshua called him and less than an hour after the diagnosis, “I got the call from Minister Farrakhan who said, ‘The angel of death isn’t coming for you. You got too much to do.’ I believe in all my heart that if Joshua didn’t make that call, I wouldn’t be here today,” Mr. Kilroy said.

The legendary Stevie Wonder, Min. Farrakhan and Bro. Mustapha Farrakhan after the janazah service. photos by Donna Muhammad

Doug E. Fresh, the legendary entertainer and hip hop pioneer, spoke with a heavy heart, remembering Bro. Joshua as a brother beyond titles. “(He was) just a beautiful person. Great heart,” he reflected. “I had to come. There was no way I wasn’t going to make this.”

A message for the living

Activist Afrika Porter told The Final Call that she grew up with members of the Farrakhan family and she shared countless childhood memories about their Hyde Park memories in the city.

“What stands out about Brother Joshua for me was his infectious smile, laughter, and jokes,” recalled Ms. Porter.

During his remarks Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad fondly reflected on the many monikers of Bro. Joshua, including “Josh” and “Joshi,” something Ms. Porter could relate to.

“Like many of us, I’ve had multiple names over the years, transitioning from Jeri, Jamilah to Afrika, a fact he playfully reminded me of whenever we met. ‘Afrika, who are you today?’ I’m all three of us, I’d respond. I appreciate the impactful program delivery, its style, and the profound takeaways from today. I firmly believe the service isn’t for the dead but for those of us present.”

Student Minister Daniel Muhammad of Chicago agreed, calling the janazah service “beautiful.” “Minister Ishmael did a wonderful job lifting the spirits of all the believers, but really giving us a lot of context as to how we should perceive one another as believers but especially the family of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” he told The Final Call.

Lazette Muhammad of Chicago stated, “It was so much beauty in the words of Brother Ishmael; reminders of the way we live our lives, reminders about how much work that still needs to be done and the beautiful works of the shoulders that we stand on.”

Student Minister Joseph Makhandal is the Nation of Islam’s representative to Haiti. He first met Bro. Joshua years ago in the small Caribbean nation as part of a N.O.I. delegation. Student Min. Makhandal translated for the Minister and shared: “Everywhere we would go, Brother Joshua would be there ensuring that the place is secured and that the Minister is drinking his water and really monitoring his pace. It’s almost like he was a doctor to the Minister.”

Min. Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah

He continued, “This janazah has given me a stronger sense of the mission and also encouraged me and inspired me to do more so that I, personally, can continue the legacy that he has left off in terms of showing care and love to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in our own ways.”

Student Minister Abdul Hakeem Muhammad, the N.O.I. European region representative, expressed his gratitude for the message delivered by Student Min. Ishmael. Having known Bro. Joshua for many years, Student Min. Abdul Hakeem was deeply moved by the heartfelt words he expressed.

“The janazah was an incredibly emotional experience, resonating with me,” he said. “I thanked the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah for raising such a wonderful son who treated members of the Nation of Islam as family, regardless of their location in the world.”

Bro. Joshua’s son Muhammad and his family, Jessica, Juan, Muhammad Jr., Louis, Awenasa and Ezekiel. Photos: Haroon Rajaee

A favorite uncle, friend and helper in the cause

Student National Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad is a great-grandson of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and also serves on the Nation of Islam Shura Executive Council. He recited the janazah prayers in Arabic at the close of the service.

“Brother Joshua Farrakhan, may Allah be pleased with him, was named ‘Nasir, the helper, the supporter,’ and he always was that to all he engaged. Everyone who was in his presence received some sort of assistance, whether it was to help them to facilitate any activity or even [his] spirit of joy or happiness, he always has been a helper in that way, of course as well to his father, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” Student Imam Sultan stated.

He referred to Joshua Farrakhan fondly as “the favorite uncle.”

“He would let us get away with almost anything we wanted to. It was time to have fun when Uncle Josh was around. He always had the candy, the music, he always had the vibe of joy with him,” he reflected.

 

Bro. Joshua Jr. and his children, Nasir, JJ, Issa, Azia and Jalil. Photo: Haroon Rajaee

Sister Aminah Bayyinah Muhammad serves as the executive administrative assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and also serves on the Shura Executive Council.

“I was blessed to have a close working relationship with Brother Joshua in service to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Since Brother Joshua and Brother Mustapha knew my biological brother, before I knew them, because they went to high school together; he said I was like his little sister, and he endearingly called me, ‘Kimbo.’ There will never be another one like him and I will truly miss him,” Sister Aminah Bayyinah Muhammad shared.

Bro. Joshua Muhammad is a son of Student Southern Regional Minister Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad and the host of a popular podcast. He was named after Bro. Joshua Farrakhan. “He was a phenomenal human being. He brought so much transparency to the People’s Podcast. He did seven interviews.

He was very honest, he told things that we had never heard before. Not only was he on post for the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1975 when He departed, but there’s so much history with Brother Joshua during the rebuilding phase. It is an honor to know him, and I pray that the Nation and the world begin to know his heart. (He was a) beautiful human being.”

Sis. Marie Muhammad with her and four of Bro. Joshua’s sons, from left, Joshua Jr., Fard, Muhammad, Louis, and her brother, Student Min. Ishmael.

Student Min. Abdul Rasul Muhammad is the Final Call General Manager. “Brother Joshua Nasir Farrakhan was one of the most genuine, sincere, beautiful brothers that I ever had the honor to know personally. He loved me tremendously and we had an expression with one another: he called me his little brother or baby brother for the last three decades.

Hip hop legend Eric B Photo: Donna Muhammad

Even in tough times, we labored together on multiple projects at The Final Call. We never lost our brotherhood; we never lost our sincere love and appreciation for one another. I treasure him, I thank Allah (God) for him, and I am going to miss him tremendously,” he shared.

“I am honored to be a brother who stands on his shoulders, as he was the brother who introduced the audio department to the Final Call Administration Building. Long live the spirit of our brother, Joshua Nasir Farrakhan.”

Student Minister Arthur Muhammad of Mosque No. 7 in New York said that Bro. Joshua was a good friend. “To me, he brought the entertainment world, hip-hop in particular—he befriended a lot of them and introduced them to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

He was resourceful, very loving fierce defender of the Teachings, and a caring brother. Student Minister Ishmael hit the nail on the head in terms of Brother Joshua’s contributions by spreading the message through video and audio.”

Bro. Arron Muhammad is a longtime member of the Minister’s Executive Team (E-Team) and reflected on his first interaction with Bro. Joshua, which occurred in Chicago during the early days of the rebuilding of the Nation of Islam.

“During Saviour’s Day 1981, I worked at the hotel that was across the street from the venue where Saviour’s Day was held and the Muslims stayed at,” explained Bro. Arron Muhammad. That year was the first annual convention held since Min. Farrakhan began rebuilding and restoring the Nation of Islam.

 

Father Pfleger greets Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad Photos: Donna Muhammad

“Prior to this, I had never heard the name ‘Farrakhan.’ I attended Saviour’s Day that year, and when the lecture was over, I saw Brother Joshua at a table duplicating tapes.”

He continued, “I ordered books and tapes from Brother Joshua, and I worked graveyard at the hotel. He brought what I ordered and books that I had not ordered to me at my job. My first Holy Qur’an was from Brother Joshua, along with several of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s books and tapes, Brother Jabril Muhammad’s books, and the Honorable Minister Farrakhan’s tapes. I worked graveyard, so I was taking in all this information,” he added.

“Brother Joshua and I stayed close since then, and he picked me up from my house and took me to my first Wednesday night study group. I became registered not too long after. I started spending a lot of time, at his house, duplicating tapes. I would take my daughter Cristel, who was about five years old at the time to his house and she played with his daughter, Melia,” recalled Bro. Arron Muhammad.

Hip hop legend Chuck D of Public Enemy greets Min. Farrakhan.

Yousef Ben Israel, is the son of the late Nasik (Prince) Asiel Ben-Israel, who was the Prime Minister and International Ambassador of The Original African Hebrew Israelite Nation Worldwide. Prince Asiel was longtime friends with Min. Farrakhan.

Yousef Ben Israel discussed his first encounter with Bro. Joshua as a teenager. “He definitely represented his father in the very best of ways. My first impression of Brother Joshua is that this man truly has his father’s charisma, spirit and love.

He greeted my father with the biggest, warmest hug and kiss on the cheek and said, ‘my big brother, my uncle prince, it’s so good to see you.’ And then he went to greet me and said, ‘that means you are my little brother and don’t you ever forget that. If you need anything, you let me know,’” he reflected.

“I’m so grateful for the 64 years to have him in the midst of us to spread the truth, to spread love, to spread peace and to be an example for us.”

Hip hop pioneer Doug E. Fresh greets Mother Khadijah Farra- khan and Sister Maria Farrakhan. Photos: Donna Muhammad

Mandene Muhammad is from the Coalition for the Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (CROE). He reflected on Bro. Joshua’s foresight in preserving his father’s teachings. “He had the wherewithal and foresight to get those high-speed recorders and duplicate his father’s lectures,” Mandene Muhammad recounted. “I didn’t have a close relationship with him, but every time I saw him, he made me feel like we did. I thank Allah that I was able to encounter him. He was always personable.”

Brother Joshua was also a visionary. Among other things, he encouraged his father to produce the historic 58-part series, “The Time and What Must be Done,” in 2013 and the Minister’s documentary project “My Life’s Journey Through Music,” in 2018.

Amidst the tributes, a familiar voice joined the chorus. “Josh was instrumental in pushing the boundaries,” Chuck D, head of the legendary rap group Public Enemy, declared. “He moved us into the era of DVDs and online platforms,” said the iconic emcee.

Father Michael Pfleger bows his head in prayer. Photo: Abdul K. Muhammad

“Public Enemy doesn’t go around the world without the Nation of Islam and Josh was a big part of that culturally. If a (music) tape goes out there, Josh would say, a tape of the Minister could go. Josh was the first to go into the realm of DVD. Josh was also to bring along the sensibility of maybe this all can go online and not even have to deal with the TV channels. He was thinking like that in the 90s,” Chuck D said.

From the infectious smiles of childhood to the foresight that propelled Minister Farrakhan’s teachings into the digital age, the commemorative service stood as a testament to a life well-lived and a legacy that transcended generations, religions and ethnicity.

Final Call Staff Writer Tariqah Muhammad and Contributing Writer Michael Z. Muhammad contributed to this report.

Bro. Joshua Farrakhan was a great helper to his father and the Nation of Islam.

Bro. Joshua’s niece reads program.

Brother Joshua F Janazah Photos by Abdul K Muhammad (Mosque)

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson was in attendance at the service honoring Bro. Joshua Farrakhan. Photo: Andrea Muhammad

From The Final Call Newspaper

‘This is a textbook case of genocide As the slaughter of Palestinians continues, demands grow to hold Israel and the West accountable

By Brian E. Muhammad, Staff Writer
- November 14, 2023

Palestinians evacuate survivors after Israeli airstrikes on buildings in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Nov. 7. Photo: AP Photo/Adel Hana


The Zionist State of Israel continues to exact excruciating collective punishment, ethnic cleansing, and genocide on the Palestinian people, charge human rights advocates, global activists, and international experts. As rivers of blood flow in Gaza and the West Bank at the hands of the occupying army and roguish Jewish settlers, legal experts have presented a legal brief showing how the U.S., Britain, and members of the collective West can face charges of complicity for aiding and abetting genocide, and not involving processes to stop it.

An emergency legal briefing paper titled “Israel’s Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian People & U.S. Failure to Prevent and Complicity in Genocide” was issued on October 18 by The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

“There is a plausible and credible case, based on powerful factual evidence, that Israel is attempting to commit, if not actively committing, the crime of genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory, and specifically against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” said the document’s introduction.

Some analysts said that whether Israel is actively or intending to engage in genocide, over the month of the current war, Israeli leaders’ rhetoric expressed an intention for it.

 



“You’ve had numerous statements from the most senior levels of the Israeli government … Israeli military … leading politicians from across the Israeli political spectrum … of parliament …. which are all indisputably genocidal in nature,” said Mouin Rabbani, a Middle East analyst.

“Regarding what Israel is actually doing, I think there is sufficient evidence to at least warrant an investigation by, for example, the International Criminal Court,” said Mr. Rabbani. He expressed doubt in the virility of the ICC which has been the focus of resentment and disappointment in the slowness of its chief Prosecutor Karim Khan to assertively act on the Palestinian question.

“But there does appear to be a growing number of authoritative specialists in not only international law, but specifically in genocide, who have been making statements, either that Israel is conducting itself with genocidal intent, or actually is already guilty of the crime,” said Mr. Rabbani.

Since the start of the present war, Israeli forces killed over 11,000 Palestinians under the pretext of completely obliterating Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group. Israel holds Hamas solely responsible for 1,400 Israelis killed and over 200 taken captive in the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on occupier settlements.

Since the current war began, Israel doubled down on a 16-year blockade in Gaza by blocking food, water, and fuel from the area, forcing deadly interference in life-sustaining and life-saving functions of hospitals, desalination plants, and infrastructure, subsequently killing many. Israeli officials dismissed the carnage as collateral damage of an extreme degradation campaign to eliminate Hamas. However, analysts argue total eradication is unrealistic because Hamas exists throughout the Arab world.

Furthermore, it appears the only eradication in the war is ordinary Palestinians. War opponents argue the disproportionality of Palestinian civilian deaths is excessive. Some see it as another sign that what Israel—backed by America—is doing in the name of “erasing” Hamas is extermination, according to the Geneva Convention on Genocide.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

It was the first human rights treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 and is considered the foundation of the international human rights system. War opponents argue the disproportionality of Palestinian civilian deaths is excessive. Some see it as another sign that the real aim of Israel, in the name of “erasing” Hamas is Palestinian extermination, according to the Geneva Convention on Genocide.

The convention defines genocide as committing the following acts with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:

(a) Killing members of the group.

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. are signatories to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which obligates all 153 signatories to prevent and punish genocide. The convention criminalizes not just the commission of, but incitement, attempts to commit, and complicity in genocide.

The complicity of America and Western powers who fund and provide weaponry to Israel are complicit, say experts. Some cite the U.S. failure to use the leverage it holds to influence Israeli negative actions toward the Palestinians. Observers argue it’s absurd to push billions of U.S. taxpayer monies to Israel and act powerless to hold it accountable.

Palestine, Israel, and America are signatories to the Convention which obligates all 153 signatories to prevent and punish genocide. The Convention criminalizes not just the commission of, but incitement, attempts to commit, and complicity in genocide.

America and Western powers funding and providing weaponry to Israel renders them complicit in the crime of genocide, experts argue. Some cite the U.S. failure to use the leverage it holds to influence Israeli actions toward the Palestinians. Observers also argue it’s absurd to provide billions of U.S. taxpayer monies to Israel and act powerless to hold it accountable.

Washington has moved from its usual “see no evil, hear no evil” posture to a “see the evil but powerless to stop the evil” position, despite the annual $3.8 billion unconditional check it cuts for Tel Aviv. However, a wide range of voices are saying “enough is enough” and Israel must be held accountable. Advocates and change agents across the globe are calling America and Israel out.

The U.S. delivers lip profession toward Palestinians and notoriously shields Israel from body blows of criticism. The West allows the destruction of Gaza, the massacre of children, and the forced displacement of survivors.

The collective West is destroying its credibility because of its unconditional backing of the Israeli regime, according to some observers.

“Because of their support for the #GazaHolocaust, the collective West has lost the respect of the international community,” said Seyed Mohammad Marandi, political analyst and professor at the University of Tehran, in a Nov. 8 remark on X (Twitter).

“This unprecedented Israeli extermination of Gazans carried out live before the eyes of the world has only been made possible by these diabolical regimes,” he added.

“Those who survive the Gaza Holocaust are ethnically cleansed,” said Mr. Marandi. “NEVER FORGET: Both the holocaust and the ethnic cleansing are fully backed by the collective West,” he posted.

As Israel advanced its ground offensives in Gaza on Nov. 10, tanks and snipers surrounded several hospitals in Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. Health officials said Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital—the largest—in Gaza City was attacked five times in less than 24 hours. The Zionist State alleges that Hamas houses a command center and underground tunnels at the site, which hospital officials and Hamas vehemently refute.

“This is false, these are utter lies,” Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa told Al Jazeera. “This is a civilian hospital. We cater to more than 1.5 million Gazans,” he added.

“The Israeli occupation forces are fully aware that this is a totally safe area. They are certain that there is no command center or any tunnels under these hospitals,” Mr. Salmiya said.

On the same day, at least 50 Palestinians were killed after Israeli missiles and artillery pounded a Gaza school sheltering internally displaced people. In another incident, more injuries and fatalities occurred on the main road to southern Gaza, bombarded while Palestinians escaped Israeli attacks in the north.

“I can’t even count,” lamented one survivor. “The ones I brought to the hospital myself are five [martyrs],” he said. “I’m sure there are many more coming behind me.”

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli authorities assured people the Salah al-Din Road was a secure route to use. Another survivor said many were injured and killed where the missiles struck.

“We are helping our fellow Gazans … elders … disabled, women and children. The Israeli warplanes fired at women and children. Their bodies were cut in pieces; we cannot even collect what is left of them,” he said. “Why would you throw bombs at civilians after you specifically told them to leave Gaza City.”

International and humanitarian law gives comprehensive and detailed protection to civilians and specific institutions during war. Israel’s indiscriminate bloodshed and brutal blasting of prohibited targets like schools, mosques, churches, hospitals and homes is more than shock opera for terror’s sake. As far as war rules, Israel has outright violated the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution and embarked on a widespread and systematic attack on Gaza’s civilian population, critics argue.

International experts say the extremity of Israeli attacks has been the modus operandi of the settler colonial state that lends to allegations of genocide. Although, the concept of genocide has been the subject of political abuse, say some international law experts, the mass slaughter of Palestinians leaves no ambiguity.

It is comparable to the roots of America as a settler colonial state that systematically removed the indigenous Native Americans from their lands onto marginalized reservations. It is also redolent to the same Europeans enslaving Africans and currently controlling them in colony-like ‘hoods throughout the U.S. under systematic oppression.

Israel in its settler colonial ideology practiced decades of systematic persecution and purging of Palestinians based entirely on their status as Arabs.

“In the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, homes are seized and reassigned based entirely on race, and violent settler pogroms are accompanied by Israeli military units. Across the land, apartheid rules,” said Craig Mokhiber, a human rights lawyer and former director of the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Palestinians inspect the damage of a destroyed mosque following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 8. Photo: AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

“This is a textbook case of genocide,” said Mr. Mokhiber, in an open resignation letter to the UN. He quitin angst over successive failures of the UN to end the “genocide unfolding before our eyes” by Israel. His letter expressed that the European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine entered its final phase toward destroying the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine. What’s more, America, the UK, and much of Europe, are wholly complicit in the horrific assault, he argued.

“Not only are these governments refusing to meet their treaty obligations ‘to ensure respect’ for the Geneva Conventions, but they are in fact actively arming the assault, providing economic and intelligence support, and giving political and diplomatic cover for Israel’s atrocities,” wrote Mr. Mokhiber.

America professes to be the friend and defender of peace-loving and freedom-loving people. However, her unholy alliance with Israel, despite its repressive system against Palestinians shows her claim is false. Israel’s usurping land, apartheid control of movement, forceful removal, genocidal practice and bloodthirst toward Palestinians underwritten by America undermines the future of both nations. Both parties were warned by scriptures and Divine Warners that there is no favorable endgame.

The Holy Qur’an, the Islamic book of scripture, warns that those who do not heed good advice are doomed. The law of Moses condemns the unjust taking of lives. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan along with his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam warns that no individual nor nation can escape the law of justice today. Both Divine Servants of Allah (God) teach that the world is in the day of God’s Judgment and that the world is in a time when the consequences of deeds, individual and national, cannot be averted except if there is repentance.

In part 2 of his timely yearlong 2013 broadcast called, “The Time and What Must Be Done,” Minister Farrakhan discussed the moral compass that applies to the current U.S.-Israel-Palestine crisis. “I want our government to see the drones that have gone into Afghanistan; the ‘shock and awe’ of America’s bombers, and the bombs that fell in Iraq on the basis of a lie!” said Minister Farrakhan. “I want us to think about the drones that were in Pakistan, in Yemen, in Somalia—of the men, the women, the children that were slaughtered; of families destroyed,” he said.

“Do you think that only Americans know how to love their children? Only Americans feel the pain of loss of our children? No, no, no! Every human being on the Earth feels such loss … Yet, we can walk away from such slaughter, and call it ‘collateral damage’?” reasoned Minister Farrakhan.

Just as Americans feel the pain of watching children slaughtered in mass killings within America; Minister Farrakhan said we would feel the pain of the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Yemenis, the Somalis, and the Palestinians dying by American-made bombs. Each time Israel embarks on bombing campaigns America commits to “replace every bomb” that the Israeli Defense Forces dropped.

“Oh America, you are blinded, and that is why we must talk about ‘The Time and What Must Be Done!’ America will never have ‘enough’ ‘guns,’ ‘weapons of war’ to satiate her bloodlust,” said Minister Farrakhan.

From The Final Call Newspaper

Concerns rise that the Middle East is slipping gravely close to a wider war

By Brian E. Muhammad, Staff Writer
- November 7, 2023

To the thousands of Palestinians slaughtered, injured, and displaced in weeks of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and increasingly in the occupied West Bank, there has only been one unified message coming from Western politicians, warmongers, and conflict profiteers who wax rich from blood-soaked theaters of war: “No Ceasefire!”

At presstime the carnage suffered by the Palestinians was approaching 10,000 deaths and nearly 25,000 injured. Tens of thousands of justice activists, anti-war voices and change agents are on the streets worldwide demanding a ceasefire. An estimated 100,000 people attended the National March for Palestine in Washington DC on Nov. 4.

They amplified the message “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and said President Biden has “blood on his hands” for continuing the U.S. “unwavering support” of the Zionist state of Israel, which they say is genocide of Palestinians.

Even though human rights experts from the United Nations and international organizations are echoing the demand for peace, events are falling deeper into fire. Observers and analysts say the Middle East is igniting dangerously closer to wider conflict.

“The possibility for a regional escalation is huge,” said activist and investigative journalist Eugene Puryear. “I think we’re seeing how especially in the broader Middle East, Palestine is almost like the heart,” he said. “The center of a broader circulatory system that is connected to almost all of the other issues in the Arab world,” he added.

There are fears concerning to what extent the Arab world may be aflame militarily. Forces in the region are positioning themselves as the onslaught of Palestinians continues. Mass demonstrations in the Arab streets are in lockstep with the Palestinian plight. Across the region resistance fighters from nearby countries have entered the fray.

When Hamas lodged its surprise attack on the Israeli occupier area on Oct. 7, and Israel launched its corridor of destruction in Gaza, combat engagements with Hezbollah fighters at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon also started. Then Houthi Ansarullah forces from Yemen officially joined the war, firing several missiles toward Israel. In Algeria, with a unanimous 100/100 vote, lawmakers authorized President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to also enter the conflict, and back Gaza, reported Albawaba news.

In Nov. 3 remarks, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said: “All options are on the table” against Israel. To avoid a regional war depends on stopping Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, he warned. Specifically to America, he said stopping Israel in Gaza is paramount because the skirmishes on the Lebanese front can easily escalate into wider war.

“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza,” Mr. Nasrallah said. “You, the Americans, know very well that if war breaks out in the region, your fleets will be of no use, nor will fighting from the air be of any benefit, and the one who will pay the price will be … your interests, your soldiers and your fleets,” he added.

Days before, the United States further ramped up its military game in the region. President Biden’s administration, as one of the loudest voices against a total ceasefire has pressed Congress for $14 billion-plus in military funding for Israel. The money is an “emergency supplement” to the regular annual bag of $3.8 billion the Zionist state already receives which are separate from the costs of added munitions and two aircraft carriers equipped with planes and thousands of American soldiers sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in early October.

Additionally, in the mix, the volume of antagonism between the U.S. and Iran is up. The region appears to be tipping past the edge.

A man sits on the rubble as others wander among debris of buildings that were targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

Since the Gaza war started there were over 30 attacks on the U.S. military in the region that began on October 17. Washington blamed Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. An Oct. 26 statement by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III., said President Biden authorized fire play in response to the series of attacks.

“The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” said Secretary Austin. An American contractor died from a cardiac incident while sheltering in place, and 21 U.S. soldiers suffered minor injuries in the attacks, he said.

The military head accused Iran of hiding its hand to deny any role in attacks on U.S. personnel and threatened that if “Iran’s proxies” continue with more attacks, the U.S. will not hesitate to take further measures.

On the timing of the military action, Secretary Austin said the strikes were intended “solely” for U.S. self-defense in Iraq and Syria. “They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict,” he said. “We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict.”

Anti-war opponents disagree with the defense secretary’s claim that attacks targeting U.S. personnel are unrelated to the Gaza crisis. “He’s totally wrong,” said Madea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK, the pro-peace and social justice organization. “There is a tremendous connection between the groups in the region … the skirmishes that are happening in Syria … in Lebanon, that are connected to this horrific massacre going on in Gaza,” she told The Final Call.

There are groups in the region having a hard time sitting quietly while witnessing their brothers and sisters in the Muslim world being viciously attacked. Ms. Benjamin said Americans should be appalled that the U.S. is giving the green light to Israel for the bombings, land invasion, and the $14 billion package when so many domestic needs are unmet. “The American people should really be contacting our members of Congress, and going out in the streets in these demonstrations,” she said.

Ms. Benjamin, who has been exerting pressure on U.S. lawmakers to sign on to the universal call for a ceasefire, also believes there is a serious threat of a regional war that could certainly involve Iran.

Mr. Puryear said that for reasons looking from a more birds-eye view of the region, Iran is being framed as the main aggressor. He explained that the U.S. and Israel have been aiming for Iran for years and are using the current conflict as a pretext to continue their efforts.

He reasons that Washington and Tel Aviv want to maintain Western hegemony over the Middle East and see Iran as a major obstacle, and with Tehran’s growing relations with China and Russia, an even more formidable opponent.

Explaining what is at stake, Mr. Puryear said they see the geopolitical project they tried to establish in the Mideast to control oil and the commercial crossroads of the world and Eurasia, which is centered on Israel, its occupation of Palestine, and influence on pro-Western governments, threatened.

The concern is “that all of that could unravel,” said Mr. Puryear. “I think they’re willing to use overwhelming force, if necessary, to try to prevent a new Middle East, which has already been coming to the forefront,” he added.

He pointed out the rise of Iran includes its rapprochement with longtime regional foe Saudi Arabia and both joining the BRICS alliance changed things. Although the U.S. sees beyond Palestine as a priority, when the resistance rose and fought back on Oct. 7, those chess pieces were knocked off the board, some observers noted.

This photo released by the Israeli military on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, shows ground operations inside the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

“Now the possibility that the sort of U.S.-led, U.S.-centric, imperialist setup in the Middle East could be collapsing … and I don’t think they want to allow that,” said Mr. Puryear.

For America to remain “ironclad” with the Zionist State adds to its own trouble. Before the crisis reached this level of distress, there were years of warnings to the U.S. and Israel by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his National Representative and top student, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.

Both of these Divine Servants of Allah (God) warned that America is under Divine Judgment for her errant foreign policies and own sordid domestic policies, namely the genocide of the Indigenous Native Americans and persistent oppression of the Black once slave—which has never been corrected by way of justice.

In a November 18, 2018, press conference from Iran, while answering a question about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Minister Farrakhan warned America concerning her direction.

“My teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, taught me years ago that the policies of our government would bring about a war in the Middle East that would be a trigger to the greatest war that has ever been, the War of Armageddon, spoken of in the Bible,” said Minister Farrakhan.

“A reporter asked my teacher: Is America going to remain in the Middle East? And my teacher said America is going to come out of the Middle East. And when they asked about war, he said, ‘Yes, there would be war.’ And he said, ‘bloodshed in this area would be much,’” said Minister Farrakhan.

When Minister Farrakhan gave these remarks, President Donald Trump was in power. However, his warning is as applicable in 2023 with Mr. Biden or whoever will win the upcoming 2024 presidential race.

“I am begging our president and the government that supports him to be very, very careful because if the trigger of war in the Middle East is pulled by you, using your surrogates at the insistence of Israel, then the war will trigger another kind of war, which will bring China, Russia, all of the nations into a war and it bothers me to say this to you, Mr. President, but the war will end America as you know it,” warned Minister Farrakhan.

From The Final Call Newspaper

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Issues a Statement on the Lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center

By The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
- October 31, 2023



The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

[Editor’s note: The following is the statement delivered by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on Saturday, October 28, 2023, concerning the lawsuit “Minister Louis Farrakhan & The Nation of Islam v. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Johnathan Greenblatt (ADL CEO/National Director), The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), Rabbi Abraham Cooper (SWC Assoc. Dean/Director of Global Social Action), which was filed on October 16, 2023, in the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York for 1st Amendment violations and for defamation. To read the press release and case documents, please visit NOI.org/NOIvADL.

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. I Bear Witness That There Is No God But Allah. And I Bear Witness That Muhammad Is His Messenger.

As-Salaam Alaikum. This is Minister Louis Farrakhan, the National Representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, and that great preacher of Freedom, Justice and Equality to the Black man and woman of America, to the Black man and woman in the Caribbean, and Central and South America, in Africa, in the Isles of the Pacific, and to our Brown and Red and Yellow brothers and sisters. Wherever you are, this message is for you.

On the 28th Anniversary of the Million Man March, October 16th, we filed a lawsuit against the ADL and The Simon Wiesenthal Center, against their leadership, because our desire, now, is to state our case before the courts and before the world. We are not what they have said we are—and we intend to prove such.

This is probably the most sensitive time in our struggle for equal justice, freedom, and equality. For nearly 40 years we have withstood the awful charges that have come against me and those who are in the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and myself.

 



We have borne a lot in these last 40 years in the absence of our great leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And he, Elijah Muhammad, prepared me to receive the insults, the sneers, being evil spoken of, and my and our reputation being scarred and bruised by the false charges of “anti-Semitism” by the Anti-Defamation League. And with their influence over the media, these false charges have been spread throughout the Earth.

All over the world, I and we have been hated; and I and we are hated the same today. I have been denied entrance into several countries and have been labeled as “persona non grata.” I am presently being called “the Godfather of hate,” and I am being called “one of the leading anti-Semites in America.”

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad

Myself and my family, and those who follow the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad under my leadership, have suffered and been scapegoated, and have lost positions in media, lost positions in business, because of the vileness of the charge even though we are saying that which is absolutely the truth.

In the Holy Qur’an it reads, “And mix not up truth with falsehood nor hide the truth while you know.” The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told us and taught us that hiding the truth leads to all kinds of mischief-making and vile behavior, hatred, and even death. So we thought it is now time for us to legally respond to these false charges.

Two thousand years ago in the Roman Empire, the Jews of that day caused the Roman authorities to join with them to bring false charges against Jesus, as he was the last prophet to the Jews. Two thousand years later, some members of the Jewish community, the ADL and others, have met with White House officials and some members of the United States government to formulate a strategy that would enable them to make laws and policies that would allow them to arrest me or others who are falsely accused of being “anti-Semitic.”

 

My teacher told me, “Take plenty, brother.” And he told me that his Teacher, Master Fard Muhammad, told him, “You must take plenty.” But why? You must take plenty if you are being made to be a saviour, a redeemer, a reconciler, a resurrector. You must have the patience through your suffering to bring about the salvation and the transformation of the lives of those to whom you are missioned.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught me of the three most hated persons in the world. The first, being a rich person who wishes to share his riches with those less fortunate; second, those who are considered rich in knowledge and wisdom, who want to share that knowledge and that wisdom with the ignorant. And lastly, the most hated of all persons is the man to whom the Holy Qur’an is revealed.

Why? Because the revelation of the last great book of prophecy, and teaching the Honorable Elijah Muhammad the meaning of all of the prophecies that are found in the Bible and the Holy Qur’an, gives that man the power to 1.) bring the whole of religion together in oneness, and 2.) bring about the end of a world like this, and the civilization of those who are the archdeceivers who rule this world. So Paul said, “We war not against flesh and blood, but we war against the principalities and the powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world.”

I am a follower of such a man, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who was taught the meaning of all of the prophecies found in the Bible and Holy Qur’an. So while he was among us, he said if any scholar or scientist could prove him wrong, he would pay out of his brother’s vest pocket $10,000 for every word that you could prove that was wrong, and he would pay with his life for lying.

 


As his student, whom he sat in his seat in July of 1972, and anointed me and commissioned me to make his great commission known, I issue the same challenge. If you can prove me to be a liar in my recitation of his Teachings, and my understanding of what he said to me when he brought me to The Great Wheel in 1985—if you can prove me to be a liar, you don’t have to try to kill me; I will be willing to pay with my life for such!

When we saw that the ADL and others have joined with the U.S. government to produce a legal justification for punishment of anyone who is so charged as being a “hater of the Jewish people” and an “anti-Semite,” we decided to bring a lawsuit, which we filed on Monday, October 16th, the 28th Anniversary of the Million Man March.

We summoned the lawyers in the Nation of Islam who have also suffered by just being attached to me and The Nation. But suffering is what we all have done! Yet, you cannot prove that anyone who is a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad under my leadership has ever done anything of hatred toward the community of Jewish people, White people, any people!

You cannot find one word in the tens of millions of words that God has guided me to speak in 68 years of my service where I ever called for the death of those who call themselves “Jews.”

 

Even though my phones may be tapped, and my house may be tapped, and you have heard my private conversations, my conversations at the dinner table, and you have even heard me praying! But you cannot find me even praying like David did, for the death of his enemies; David, who is the sign of the Promised Messiah.

Boy, I have thought about such prayers, but I have never uttered them; because I, like the God I serve, do not take pleasure in God’s killing of the people who are sinful; or us, for our sins. My teacher, Elijah Muhammad, taught me that “He came to save us from our sins,” and he added “the sins of White people” that we have been nurtured under; an iniquitous people who have made us into themselves.

And this is our reason for going before the courts: To attempt, with the help of Allah (God), to prove our innocence of such false charges, and that the guilty who charge us with their crimes are the ones who should suffer the punishment of judgment because they lie! They lie on a good man, who has never been arrested, never condemned as being a liar, never done anyone evil—and you wish death for me, and for those who follow me.

So we think the time is right! We have taken aplenty, and you cannot find us calling for the death of any Jewish person, harming one hair on their head, putting a swastika on any synagogue, or walking in protest at their stores and businesses asking people not to trade with them. But this, they have done to us, so we say: Enough is enough. So we have chosen to bring this action before the courts, and also before the people of America and the world.

 

Jesus, in his “Sermon on The Mount” found in Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” And it was my brother, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: “Underserved suffering is redemptive.”

And so, we have paid the price to be looked upon as saviours and redeemers of our people, and correctors of the awful condition that we have been placed in by our enemies. So if you would like to read the complaint and the exhibits that we have submitted to the court, please use the QR code that appears on the screen [visit NOI.org/NOIvADL].

And get the full transcript of the complaint, and the many pages of documents that support the charge that we have made, and then share it with your family and your friends. And don’t ever worry about what the outcome is going to be, because truth crushed to the earth will rise again.

Thank you for listening and may Allah bless each of you with the light of understanding, as I greet you in peace: As-Salaam Alaikum (Peace be unto you).