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According the article Black nationalist lawyer accused of anti-Semitic remarks to investigate response to rally:

In addition to the allegations of promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, the report includes remarks Shabazz allegedly made at a 2002 protest in Washington, D.C., where he called on people to “kill every goddamn Zionst in Israel! Goddamn little babies, goddamn old ladies!

However, the article also says:

Shabazz said many of those “defamatory” statements were “planted in the press” to defame him. “I deny the truth of those statements,” he said.

A Wednesday evening rally at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church was cancelled just hours before it was slated to begin. An organizer with the interfaith activist group Congregate Cville said Wednesday that some Jewish groups were concerned about Shabazz being scheduled to appear at Mt. Zion.

According to Corey Long [flamethrower man], one of the people Shabazz is representing, the group met privately at another location on Wednesday evening.

So what is the truth here? Did Shabazz really say to kill all Zionists in Israel, including "goddamn little babies"?

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2 Answers 2

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According to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, yes he did. There is no direct video evidence that Mr. Shabazz said the lines in question, but positions previously espoused by Mr. Shabazz are in line with the quote.


Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center quote Mr. Shabazz in saying the exact quote. However, there is no direct video evidence provided and there does not seem to be any direct proof of the event in question.

Anti-Defamation League, page 8

During an April 2002 demonstration the NBPP organized in front of the B'nai B'rith building in Washington, DC, Shabazz led chants of "death to Israel" and "Jihad," and shouted, “Kill every goddamn Zionist in Israel! Goddamn little babies, goddamn old ladies! Blow up Zionist supermarkets!” Participants held posters that read, “The American Israeli White Man is the Devil” and “The State of Israel Has No Right to Exist.”

Southern Poverty Law Center Profile on Malik Zulu Shabazz, In His Own Words

"Kill every goddamn Zionist in Israel! Goddamn little babies, goddamn old ladies! Blow up Zionist supermarkets!" — Speech during protest of B'nai B'rith International, Washington, D.C., 2002


Malik Zulu Shabazz was (2001-2013) the former head of the New Black Panther Party. The NBPP is described by the Anti-Defamation League as

the largest organized anti-Semitic and racist Black militant group in America.

The Southern Poverty Law Center agrees with this sentiment.

The NBPP is notable for its anti-white and anti-Semitic hatred.

NBPP members also hold black-supremacist religious beliefs. Some think that blacks are God's true "chosen people" and that the people normally called "Jews" actually are impostors (this ideology is remarkably similar to the white racist theology of Christian Identity, which says whites are God's real chosen people). They believe that blacks are naturally superior to people of other races. In September 1997, Khalid Muhammad said that he could not be anti-Semitic because Jews had no claim to the term "Semite."


As an aside, the NBPP, despite its name, has no connection to the Black Panther Party of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Notably, the NBPP advocates for Black Supremacy, and is described as a racist organization by both the ADL and the SPLC, whereas the BPP was notably anti-racist. According to a web archive of the BPP website

Firstly, the people in the New Black Panthers were never members of the Black Panther Party and have no legitimate claim on the Party's name

(...)

Secondly, they denigrate the Party's name by promoting concepts absolutely counter to the revolutionary principles on which the Party was founded. (...) The Party operated on love for black people, not hatred of white people.


The Southern Poverty Law Center maintains a profile on Mr. Shabazz. In their brief description of him, they describe him as

(...) a racist black nationalist with a long, well-documented history of violently anti-Semitic remarks and accusations about the inherent evil of white people.

While there is no direct video evidence of Mr. Shabazz at the protest where he said the quoted lines, there is evidence of Mr. Shabazz holding antisemitic, pro-radical Islamic positions.

Mr. Shabazz claims that he is not antisemitic. However, he nuances this by being an advocate of the theory of Black Hebrew Israelism, a theory that states that some African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Shabazz takes this theory further and believes that modern day Jews are imposters.

Shabazz has also advanced the theory (...) that blacks, not Jews, are the original Hebrews of Israel.

This belief allows Mr. Shabazz to claim to not be antisemitic by claiming that the group of people commonly known as Jewish are not Semites, and therefore his speeches against this group are not antisemitic.

Shabazz has also advanced the theory, laid out by some black nationalists, that blacks, not Jews, are the original Hebrews of Israel.

Mr. Shabazz has also advocated for theories that the U.S. government and Jews (presumably what he describes as "fake" Jews) were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

That same year, Shabazz notoriously appeared at a press conference alleging a Jewish conspiracy behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and embarked on what was to be a long series of controversial protests.

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  • For those who have downvoted this answer, is there a reason as to why you downvoted, so that I can make the answer better?
    – DenisS
    Oct 2, 2017 at 13:56
  • I upvoted, but if there was a reference from 2002, like a newspaper article, I think the answer would be more convincing. The ADL and SPLC aren't giving any witness, audio or video evidence. Also, there is a different Shabazz (King Samir Shabazz) who is on multiple videos saying to kill babies, so there is potential confusion between the two Shabazzs.
    – DavePhD
    Oct 2, 2017 at 14:10
  • If a Zionist is defined as someone who holds a particular set of views, then, while over the top and clearly intended to emphasize everyone, by definition, babies would be excluded, as they would not be capable of having established Zionist viewpoints at that stage of human development. But, then again, I seriously doubt he thought through the logical construction of his statement, and any inherent contradictions. Oct 6, 2017 at 15:53
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Both the ADL and the SPLC report that he said this:

"Kill every goddamn Zionist in Israel! Goddamn little babies, goddamn old ladies! Blow up Zionist supermarkets!" — Speech during protest of B'nai B'rith International, Washington, D.C., 2002 SPLC

During an April 2002 demonstration the NBPP organized in front of the B'nai B'rith building in Washington, DC, Shabazz led chants of "death to Israel" and "Jihad," and shouted, “Kill every goddamn Zionist in Israel! Goddamn little babies, goddamn old ladies! Blow up Zionist supermarkets!” Participants held posters that read, “The American Israeli White Man is the Devil” and “The State of Israel Has No Right to Exist.” ADL (pdf)

The original source for this seems to be the ADL. Various blog posts reference an ADL page which isn't available online anymore, but which can be accessed using the wayback machine. The entry was added in August 2003, which seems to be the earliest appearance of the quote.

It is unlikely that video of this incident exists, so 100% proof is not possible, but the ADL is a credible source and I see no reason to doubt it - especially considering that the quote is not out of character for antisemites.

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    Being unfamiliar with the specifics of the event, I'm confused as to why you classify the lawyer as an Anti-Semite. If the situation is not 100% certain, how can the logical conclusion be made that he is anti-semite? He made a claim that evidence was falsified/planted, so other than that evidence, how would he be classififed as an anti-semite. It makes me think along the lines of; Calling someone a rapist, then when they deny it, accusing them of being a rapist for seperate reasons, and using the previous claim as a character reference to back up the new claim. Sep 29, 2017 at 16:37
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    @MattBrennan he led a chant: "who caught and killed Nat Turner": "Jews"; "Who was it that controls the Federal Reserve? Who?”: "Jews"; “Who controls the media and Hollywood?”: "Jews"; “Who has our entertainers, our athletes, in a vise grip?”: "Jews"; “Who is spying on black leaders and Martin Luther King and set up his death?”: "Jews". Later he admitted the Nat Turner part was false. washingtoncitypaper.com/news/article/13007709/…
    – DavePhD
    Sep 29, 2017 at 16:53
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    @MattBrennan The conclusion isn't made solely on this one event in question, Shabazz has a long history of antisemitic incidents ('Jews control the FED', 'Jews are responsible for the African holocaust', Jews are bloodsuckers', 'Jews control entertainment', 'Jews knew about 9/11' - all paraphrased, see my links for details). I didn't think anyone was questioning the antisemitism in general - just the call to kill babies - so I didn't go into it (the broader question of his antisemitism would probably be a better fit at politics.SE).
    – tim
    Sep 29, 2017 at 16:53
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    @Jasmine: While the SPLC is biased, it seems to be mostly biased in the other direction, e.g. claiming that non-left groups are racist, on little or no evidence.
    – jamesqf
    Sep 29, 2017 at 17:54
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    @Jasmine Both of those groups ... are documented liars Citation?
    – Beofett
    Sep 29, 2017 at 19:06

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