Why Is Bernie Sanders Such a Magnet For Antisemites?

One thing you can say about Bernie Sanders.
He sure does have some unexpected friends and admirers.

Bernie Sanders and Farrakhan

Farrakhan was very clear in 2016 that he was not supporting Bernie Sanders.
You won't find him supporting Sanders for president now either.

And yet in 2016 Farrakhan went out of his way not to attack him as one of those "Satanic Jews".
According to Farrakhan, Bernie Sanders is one of those "decent" Jews:

"I have to say this about Mr. Sanders: he's a Jew, not a so-called Jew. He's trying to be decent..."

The Women's March Is Not The First To Be Hurt By Its Association With Farrakhan

It's common to think that Farrakhan's poisonous Antisemitic rhetoric carries no consequences with it.

• There are no condemnations from African American leaders.
• Politicians show no reluctance to appear with him
• Community leaders in general do not condemn his Anti-Jewish attacks
• Farrakhan is a popular leader among African Americans

That is why the backlash against Women's March is so surprising.

Apart from the Antisemitism of the Women's March leadership itself, as documented by Tablet Magazine and The New York Times, their ties to Louis Farrakhan and their refusal to condemn his ongoing Antisemitic attacks have been a stain on that movement.

But historically, the Women's March is not alone in bearing the consequences of the albatross that is Louis Farrakhan.

Tamika Mallory Is A Disciple of Sharpton As Well As Farrakhan -- And It Shows

Since Tamika Mallory's connection to, and adoration of, Antisemite Louis Farrakhan is well known, her Antisemitic attacks on Jews and Israel -- and her recent refusal to address those concerns -- are not surprising.

But she is also a disciple of Al Sharpton. Mallory joined the staff of Sharpton's National Action Network when she was 15 and later became its youngest-ever executive director.

A Brief Overview of The Association Between The Nation of Islam And White Supremacists

"All of this isn’t to say that hate speech doesn’t matter. It does. But white supremacists are not joining the Nation of Islam, not now nor ever."
"Deciding Who We Throw Away," Cassady Fendlay, Communications Strategist, Writer, and Editor

Actress Alyssa Milano made a welcome point when she criticized the Women’s March leaders for not condemning the Antisemitism of Louis Farrakhan. Findlay's evasion of the issue took the form of a personal attack on Milano and anyone associating with her:

Alyssa Milano and all the white women lined up behind her are actually enforcing the power of white supremacy through their misguided attempt to challenge hate speech.

But what is interesting is Fendlay's apparent ignorance of the history of the Nation of Islam and how it has affiliated with white supremacists over the years.

There Was A Time When Leaders Did Denounce Farrakhan's Nation of Islam -- 25 Years Ago

"Those who call me a bigot, a hater, an anti-Semite, I want you to listen to me real carefully. If anything like that comes out of my mouth I want you raise your hand and stop me."
Louis Farrakhan, October 8, 1985

Louis Farrakhan seems to have been in the news fairly often as of late -- not only for what he is saying but for what others associated with him have not been saying.

Louis Farrakhan. Screenshot of Youtube video

Seems like the antisemitism that comes out of his mouth doesn't get a reaction.
Social media platforms don't condemn it.
Politicians don't condemn it.
Black leaders don't condemn it
And of course, the leaders of Women's March don't condemn it either.

But there was a time when racist comments coming out of The Nation of Islam did draw condemnation.

In spades.

It's just that you have to go back 25 years in order to find it.

Farrakhan: Influential Despite His Irrelevance

"...I'm afraid that you [Jewish people] will come to regret the day that I offered you a chance to let us sit down together and dialogue and you, in your emotional reaction, rejected that offer...You will [regret it] because if my influence and growth and power in America does not diminish and it will not, by the help of God, then what benefit would it be to you not to sit down and dialogue with me when the racial problem is not getting any better..."
Louis Farrakhan, Fox News Sunday interview, 3/30/97. Source: Jewish Virtual Library

That is the question -- just how influential is Louis Farrakhan, the Antisemitic leader of The Nation of Islam?

Overview of African-American Islam As It Moves from Nation of Islam to Normative Islam

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

A Century of African-American Islam

by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
December 27, 2013
http://www.danielpipes.org/13873/african-american-islam

The year 2013 marks the centenary of the reported founding of the Canaanite Temple in Newark, New Jersey. That was the very earliest form of an indigenous African-American Islam, one completely distinct from normative Islam, the 1,400 -year-old religion from Arabia founded by Muhammad. From this movement came Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Louis Farrakhan.

Louis Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam Discover Scientology!

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

The Nation of Islam Discovers Scientology

by Daniel Pipes
October 25, 2012

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2012/10/the-nation-of-islam-discovers-scientology

The Nation of Islam's historic role as a bridge between American blacks and Islam ended in 1975 when W. Deen Mohammed followed his father, Elijah Muhammad as leader of the Nation and immediately disavowed his father's folk religion, bringing his followers to normative Islam, the Islam of the Middle East. From then on, despite the theatrics of Louis Farrakhan, the Nation has been in a long downward trajectory. Now comes evidence, thanks to Eliza Gray writing about "Thetans and Bowties" in The New Republic, of a jaw-dropping turn by Farrakhan, 79, to Scientology; as her subtitle puts it, "America's two weirdest sects join forces."

The connection goes back seven years: