Update: In his February 17 speech, Malik Shabazz said that "Zionism is racism," "Zionism is terrorism" and "you cannot be a real Jew and a Zionist at the same time."  He called Israel a "terrorist state" and said that he doesn't "blame" Hamas, Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad for the Middle East conflict.  Shabazz also endorsed various books, including "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews," a Nation of Islam publication that argues that the history of slavery in the New World was dominated by Jewish ship owners and merchants, and "The International Jew," an anti-Semitic work by Henry Ford.

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Pittsburgh, PA, February 14, 2004... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) deplores the invitation extended by a campus organization to the leader of a notorious hate group to speak at Carnegie Mellon University this week. 

The invitation offered to Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party, an extremist group with virulently anti-Semitic, anti-gay, and anti-white sentiments, lends legitimacy to the hateful agenda of Shabazz and his organization. 

Rather than enhancing the diversity of opinions on campus and stimulating the free flow of ideas, the invitation instead will merely provide a platform for bigotry and intolerance.

Bettysue Feuer, ADL Regional Director, and Joseph Friedman, Chair of the ADL's Pittsburgh Council stated:

Shabazz and the New Black Panther Party have always taken the opportunity to play the' blame the Jews game' for almost everything. They call for hatred, reinforce bigotry and often call upon their followers to use violence.

For years, Shabazz has maintained his hostility toward Jews, even suggesting that Jews and Israel had foreknowledge of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Their ideas are abhorrent. Although they have the First Amendment right to speak, we would be remiss not to exert our moral obligation to speak out against their bigotry.