Jewish activists blast 'Squad' Dem for 'appalling' defense of Farrakhan mural: 'Lack of fitness to lead'

FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman recently argued that a mural of Minister Louis Farrakhan should remain in a New York City suburb, prompting outrage from Jewish activists.

The "Squad" Democrat from New York recently sparked controversy over comments he made regarding a Black Lives Matter mural that featured Black figures, including Farrakhan, who has infamously made disparaging comments about Jews, including calling them the "the synagogue of Satan" and "termites." 

"Regarding the minister, you know, he said many things that I fully disagree with, you know, period," Bowman said during an interview last year according to a New York Daily News report about the mural in Westchester County. "But he is a part of Black history, you know? That’s a fact. And if the Greenburgh community​ — particularly that section of Greenburgh​, you know — supports the mural, then the mural​ should be there as is.​"

Bowman’s position sparked strong pushback from Jewish advocates. 

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L - Jamaal Bowman R - Minister Louis Farrakhan (Getty Images)

"Farrakhan has singlehandedly done more damage to the positive relations and cooperation among different minority groups that has existed since the civil rights movement," Brooke Goldstein, human rights attorney and executive director of The Lawfare Project, told Fox News Digital. 

"Including Farrakhan on any sort of mural is nothing less than an attempt to whitewash his blatant racism, and to gaslight Americans into viewing him as anything other than a bigot," Goldstein said. "Jamal Bowman’s failure to acknowledge the trauma caused by Farrakhan, and unwillingness to act on this mural, shows indifference to the harm and an appalling lack of fitness to lead, especially when it comes to minority rights."

"Louis Farrakhan is an unabashed Jew-hater who has used his very public platform to spread abhorrent antisemitic stereotypes, while at the same time recruiting and developing a veritable army of followers indoctrinated into the cult of hatred towards Jews and marginalized communities," she continued.

"Farrakhan - whose support for, and appreciation of, Islamist regimes like Iran, which deprive their own citizens of basic human rights while exporting global terrorism - has spread vitriol accusing Jews of, among many other things, seeking to manipulate and exploit Black people."

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Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., arrives to the U.S. Capitol during the last votes of the week on Thursday, May 25, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Lizzy Savetsky, a Jewish activist in nearby New York City, told Fox News Digital that it is "unconscionable and reprehensible that Rep. Jamal Bowman would choose to glorify a blatant antisemite like Louis Farrakhan."

"This is not just an error in judgment; it’s a blatant endorsement of hate and antisemitism. Such actions should not only be condemned but also met with the sternest opposition to prevent any semblance of acceptance for hate-filled bigots. Rep. Bowman must resign immediately." 

Farrakhan has called Jewish people "termites", praised Hitler, and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel.

"Louis Farrakhan is one of the most notorious, vitriolic anti-semites in our country," Congressman Carlos Giménez, who represents Miami-Dade County which is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the U.S. and the world, told Fox News Digital. 

"It is entirely reprehensible for any public official to use their platform to venerate someone who has perpetuated hateful canards and tropes for the purpose of ostracizing, targeting, and relegating the Jewish community. Whether as Mayor of Miami-Dade County or as Member of Congress, I have been proud to stand with the Jewish community against anti-semitism and hate in all of its forms."

Bowman’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the hotly debated taxpayer-funded mural. 

Bowman, who represents Greenburgh in Congress but did not at the time that the mural was constructed, told New York Daily News that Farrakhan has made "horrific" and "despicable antisemitic" comments but said "the local community living near the mural should have the power to decide how to move forward."

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Minister Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam, speaks at Saint Sabina Church, Thursday night, May 9, 2019, in Chicago. (AP)

Bowman, who has been a vocal advocate of a cease-fire in Gaza which he said was "uplifting deeply what it actually means to be Jewish", is not a stranger to controversy stemming from supporting radical activists.

In 2014, Bowman honored a radical Black activist and convicted murderer during a special project at a New York City middle school he founded before he was elected to Congress.

The special project wall included former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a known antisemite and promoter of conspiracy theories, such as that Jews were responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Emma Colton contributed to this report