Clinton Endorses Farrakhan March
NewsMax  | 5/7/05 | Carl Limbacher
 

Ex-president Bill Clinton is endorsing Nation of Islam chief Minister Louis Farrakahan's "Million More March" over the objections of the Anti-Defamation League, which is urging top politicians to avoid the October event because they say that both Farrakhan and march organizer Malik Zulu Shabazz are anti-Semitic.

"I think this is a very positive idea,” Clinton told the Amsterdam News this week in an interview from his Harlem office.

"I like the idea of a march," he continued. "It’s fine to be concerned about [homeland] security, but we also have to keep trying to make America strong and better here at home." In recent statements, Minister Farrakhan has blamed Jews for both slavery and the Iraq war, the ADL said. Mr. Shabazz said last summer that "the Zionist has no right to open his mouth anywhere on the planet."

Clinton's endorsement came despite the ADL's call for top political figures to distance themselves from the march.

The group sharply chastised Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams for his decision to participate in the Farrakhan event, saying it was "incompatible with your efforts to eradicate anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia and all forms of bigotry from this city."

But Clinton sounded unfazed by the ADL's objections, saying he remembered the 1995 Million Man March as a very positive event.

"They were basically standing up for the dignity of family and asking African American men and fathers to be more responsible,” he told the Amsterdam News. "It was totally non-violent and got a big participation and it also showed . . . .[that] there’s all these people and they are advocating a responsible agenda and not just asking for something."