Farrakhan denies anti-Semitism

(JTA) — Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan denied he is anti-Semitic during an address to the group’s annual convention in Detroit.

Farrakhan, who is known for his diatribes against the Jews, compared himself to auto magnate Henry Ford saying that Ford was “a great man who was called an anti-Semite.”

“I feel like I’m in good company,” Farrakhan said during a speech Sunday night to about 18,000 in Joe Louis Arena, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“I don’t hate Jewish people … what I hate is evil,” Farrakhan also said, and added that “Satan is in control of Hollywood,” as well as TV, the media and money.

Farrakhan also reprimanded Muslims for fighting against each other in the Middle East, saying they were killing each other for “America” and the “European infidel.”

He said that if the U.S. launched a war on Iran, “we ain’t fighting. We’re not killing no Muslims for these infidels.”

Farrakhan spoke for nearly three hours, and touched on topics such as for the African-American community separating from the rest of the world in order to better their lives, and reinvesting in Detroit

“Expressing pride for being called anti-Semitic is shameful,” Heidi Budaj, Michigan regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Detroit Free Press. “A person in this day and age should be ashamed to say that.”

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