The Blackman’s Development Center, run by the Blackman’s Volunteer Army of Liberation, will not get a $197,847 government training grant until an administrative audit proves that its director, Col. Hassan Jeru-Ahmed, is not an anti-Semite and that the funds will not be used to breed bigotry. Charges to that effect have been leveled against the Center by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and by Rep. Robert M. Giaimo, Democrat of Connecticut. Giaimo said last week that as a member of the District of Columbia Appropriations subcommittee, he planned to press for a General Accounting Office audit of the Center’s operations and a “high-level review” of federal funding. Jeru-Ahmed responded with a $10 million slander-and-libel suit, but said he welcomed an audit and has repudiated 1967 statements that led to the charges of anti-Semitism against him. Jeru-Ahmed, 47, self-proclaimed head of the “provisional Government of the United Moorish Republic,” has been receiving federal funds for his narcotics-rehabilitation programs here and in Spotsylvania County. Va. But ADL general counsel Arnold Forster told the JTA April 14 that Jeru-Ahmed had a background of “racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism,” and ADL fact-finding director Justin Finger added that Jeru-Ahmed has been “involved with known anti-Semites and racists.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
