Kwame Zulu Shabazz

Overview

Kwame Zulu Shabazz was the center of major controversy after publishing a slew of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist tweets, comparing Jews to Nazis and Zionism to genocide.

Zulu Shabazz is a visiting instructor of Africana Studies at Knox College (Knox).

Anti-Semitic and Anti-Zionist Tweets

In April 2018, Zulu Shabazz became the center of major controversy after publishing a slew of anti-Semitic tweets.

On April 22, 2018, Zulu Shabazz contributed to a twitter thread, writing that “Creating a nation (Israel) on the backs of people (Palestinians) already living there is genocidal. Black/Jewish relationships in the US have generally been exploitative.”

On the same day, Zulu Shabazz also tweeted “If a Black person said ‘I hate white people’ or ‘I hate Jews’ they would be totally justified in doing so. As an educator I don't support that thinking, but given the horrific treatment that we have endured and continue to endure it is a legitimate sentimate.”

On April 22, 2018, Zulu Shabazz also tweeted a response to a thread, writing that “Reading a sentence (or tweet) out of can easily lead to misinterpretation. I was referring to Zionism. Zionism is genocide. And, yes, Jews have a decades long history of exploiting Blacks economically.”

Zulu Shabazz posted another response to a thread on the same day, stating “I called Zionists murderers. Not Jews generally.”

On April 21, 2018, Zulu Shabazz contributed to a twitter thread, writing that “I said ‘members of the Jewish community.’ Zionists are part of that membership. Zionism is genocide. But not just Zionists. Jews in the USA have been intergrated into whiteness. As marginal whites they benefit from the oppression of Black and Indigenous people.”

On the same day, Zulu Shabazz published another comment in a Twitter thread, writing “A key consequence of their status as marginal whites is that Black/Jewish relations, like Black/white relations, have been unequal with whites or Jews always in a position of authority and power over Black people who have only known hell in America. That's going to change w/me.”

On April 12, 2018, Zulu Shabazz participated in a Twitter thread, stating that “I am also opposed to the state Israel. Creating a nation on the backs people already living in that space is genocide. Silence or neutrality on genocide, in my view, makes one complicit to the genocidal act.”

On December 27, 2016, Zulu Shabazz tweeted “Awesome! I wish POTUS would do more to damage US/Israel relations #ZionismIsRacism”

On December 8, 2017, Zulu Shabazz tweeted “Zionism is Jewish terrorism.”

On September 15, 2016, Zulu Shabazz tweeted “Complaining about white settler nation USA supporting white settler nation Israel is kinda like wondering why a psychopath kills people.”

On July 26, 2014, Zulu Shabazz tweeted “It is breathtaking to consider how Jews went from Holocaust victims to brutal occupiers in just a few generations...”

Concern over Zulu Shabazz’s apparently anti-Semitic views was first expressed by Knox Hillel, which sent out a Facebook message to the community on April 12, 2018.

Responding to the controversy, Zulu sent out another tweet on April 20, 2018, stating that “I am being attacked by members the Jewish community for questioning their behavior--how they could go from victims in Nazi Germany to oppressors in Palestine and exploiters in Black America. But they picked a fight with wrong Black man. I will not be silent.”

Social Media and Weblinks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/kzshabazz

University Website: https://www.knox.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/africana-studies/faculty/shabazz-kwame-zulu