Biden Calls Jesse Jackson, With Long History of Jew-Hatred, a ‘Man of God’

The Baptist minister has used slurs to refer to Jews and accused Israel of crimes on par with those of the Nazis.

By Menachem Wecker | | Topics: CHRISTIANS, Antisemitism
Jesse Jackson during a visit to northern Israel in 2006. Photo by Haim Azulay/Flash90
Jesse Jackson during a visit to northern Israel in 2006. Photo by Haim Azulay/Flash90

History will remember Jesse Jackson as “a man of God and of the people,” who is “determined, strategic and unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our nation,” US President Joe Biden stated on July 16.

In the White House announcement, which marked the 81-year-old Baptist minister and activist’s retirement, Biden invoked a quote from Jewish scripture—that man is created in the divine image. He called Jackson an “extraordinary” leader, who “helped lead our nation forward through tumult and triumph,” adding, “We will continue to cherish the counsel and wisdom that we draw from him.”

Jackson announced on Saturday that he would step down from the Chicago nonprofit Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which he founded in 1996 and which traces its history back to 1971. Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes, of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, will become the new head of the group.

“Jackson, who has dealt with several health problems in recent years and uses a wheelchair, capped the proceedings with muted remarks,” the Associated Press reported, “the once-fiery orator spoke so softly it was difficult to hear him.”

The White House statement reflected nothing of Jackson’s long history of anti-Jewish offenses, alongside his more than 50 years as a civil rights activist.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing constantly about the Holocaust. The Jews don’t have a monopoly on suffering,” Jackson said, per 1984 New York Times reporting. On a visit to Yad Vashem in 1979, Jackson said that “such genocide should ‘not be allowed to happen to anyone, including the Palestinians,’” according to the Washington Post.

Jackson referred to New York as “Hymietown” and Jews as “Hymies” in an interview with Washington Post journalist Milton Coleman during Jackson’s 1984 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

The Times reported, Jackson’s “problems were compounded” when antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan threatened Coleman with death. Even years after Jackson sought to sever his close political connections with Farrakhan, “deep suspicions persist among Jews,” per the Times.

“Farrakhan became widely known in 1984, when he endorsed the presidential campaign of Jesse Jackson. At the time, Farrakhan attracted significant attention for his antisemitic and anti-white statements,” the ADL states. “While Jackson disavowed some of Farrakhan’s remarks at the time, he has since taken part in several NOI events.”

More recently, Jackson referred at the World Policy Forum in France in 2008 to “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” and “decades of putting Israel’s interests first,” which he said would end during Barack Obama’s presidency.

“Not surprisingly, those words had Obama’s aides quickly running for cover,” per a New York Post staff opinion piece.

“He meant what he said. Until things blew up in his face,” the Post added. “Jesse Jackson needs to shut up and realize that his biggest enemy is his mouth.”

You Might Also Like
Load more
Members

Israel Today Membership

Read all member content. Access exclusive, in-depth reports from Israel! Free Zoom events. Connect with Israel right from your home! Raise a voice of truth and hope. Support Faith-based journalism in Jerusalem!

Monthly
Membership

$5
/ month
Full access to Israel Today's Member-only content on all Digital Platforms.
Become a Member

Yearly
Membership

$46
/ year
Full access to Israel Today's Member-only content on all Digital Platforms.
Save 18% Per Month.
Become a Member

Six Months
Membership

$28
every 6 months
Full access to Israel Today's Member-only content on all Digital Platforms.
Save 9% Per Month.
Become a Member
Israel Today comments guidelines Kommentar-Regeln

3 responses to “Biden Calls Jesse Jackson, With Long History of Jew-Hatred, a ‘Man of God’”

  1. Mark Watkins says:
    July 17, 2023 at 6:33 pm

    Seriously, that is like calling Chairman Mao an advocate for freedom, Jesse is not only a liar, an antisemite, a racist in every sense of the word! Jeremiah Wright is Wrong, Al Sharptonare close friends, his son is in prison for what?

    Yet they too can be saved if they truly repent for what Yeshua did on Har Golgatha…

  2. Robert Barbour says:
    July 18, 2023 at 12:01 am

    Biden and Jackson serve the same god but it’s not Almighty God of the Heavens and earth. The god of this world has blinded their eyes lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine in and they should be saved. They don’t have much time left to prepare but nothing is impossible with God.

  3. John Yearwood says:
    July 18, 2023 at 1:52 pm

    I want to remind Bibi that he was first to call Biden and congratulate him on a corrupt election.
    As for “Rev” Jesse Jackson and non profit Rainbow Coalition is as big of a fraud as the Biden presidency.
    Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have done more radical damage to divide blacks and whites than anyone and the Democratic Party keeps them in their money laundering schemes.
    They will be the ones who kneel before Jesus Christ and Gods White Throne and say, “but lord look what we’ve done in your name!”
    And Jesus will say, “depart from me, for I never knew you.”

Leave a Reply

Israel Today Newsletter

Daily news

FREE to your inbox

Israel Heute Newsletter

Tägliche Nachrichten

KOSTENLOS in Ihrer Inbox

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter