Black and Jewish students faced off at the State University of New York at Albany this week amid mounting apprehension surrounding the upcoming Million Man March on Washington.
As black students rallied in support of the march, which is being led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, about 75 Jewish students staged a counterdemonstration.
Holding placards reading “Farrakhan = David Duke Without the Sheet” and “Racism Knows No Colors,” Jewish students tried to enter the rally, but were blocked by administrators and police who claimed their safety would be endangered.
When they persisted, Jewish students were “verbally abused and physically threatened” by some black students in attendance, according to Ronn Torossian, the adviser to RZA/Tagar, the Jewish student activist movement on campus.
Prior to the rally, Torossian said rocks had been hurled at the windows of the RZA/Tagar office and it had received dozens of threatening phone calls.
In addition, Jewish students posting advertisements for their counterdemonstration were chased and threatened, he said.
Farrakhan has declared Oct. 16 a “day of atonement” for the black community, calling for black men to “straighten their backs” and accept more responsibility for their families and communities.
“Farrakhan has said Judaism is a `gutter religion’ and has lauded Hitler as a `great man.’ He is a vehement anti-Semite and we intend to exercise our first amendment rights in protesting the `Million Man Farce,”‘ Torossian said.
An untold thousands prepare to descend on Washington Monday and march behind Farrakhan, at least one Jewish group plans to stage counterdemonstrations.
AMCHA – The Coalition for Jewish Concerns is planning to hold simultaneous demonstrations at noon Sunday in New York at the Nation of Islam’s headquarters and in Washington near the Capitol.
Jewish demonstrators intend to “raise a voice of conscience” and urge blacks not to attend, said Judy Balint, the group’s national director.
The timing of the march, however, presents Jewish demonstrators with a tactical problem. Because Monday’s march coincides with the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the group, which is led by New York activists Rabbi Avi Weiss, close to stage its demonstrations on Sunday, with a smaller protest to follow in Washington on the day of the march, Balint said.
The extremist Jewish Defense Organization is also calling for a “Death to Farrakhan” rally in Brooklyn on Sunday.
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