Judge Tosses Louis Farrakhan’s $4.8B Lawsuit Against ADL Over Antisemitism Claims

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Source: The New York Post via Microsoft Start

Statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Southern District of New York has just dismissed a $4.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed in October by Louis Farrakhan and Nation of Islam (NOI) against thefarrakhanreportcover

Simon Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC’s Associate Dean & Global Social Action Director. The Anti-Defamation League and its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt were also named.

Farrakhan and NOI claimed that SWC was defaming them because SWC and the other defendants repeatedly called their comments anti-Semitic.

In response to the Court’s ruling, Rabbi Cooper stated that, “we have a constitutional right to express an opinion about what we believe is anti-Semitic hate speech, stating, “plaintiffs seek here to rewrite decades of legal precedent and overturn the First Amendment’s protection of free speech.”

Cooper added, “We are grateful that the United States judicial system recognized and validated our First Amendment rights to confront and speak out against anti-Semitism by dismissing Louis Farrakhan’s lawsuit and not-so-veiled attempt to silence the SWC and impede our mission.”

“The challenged statements referring to Farrakhan as anti-Semitic are non-actionable statements of opinion. The communications in which they were published contain ‘a recitation of facts on which (they are) based’ – namely direct quotes from Farrakhan”- Judge Denise Cote, U.S. Southern District, NY

Unfortunately, the judicial system cannot defeat the anti-Semitic hate that Farrakhan has spawned and spread throughout America over the last four decades.

SWC will steadfastly uphold its commitment to pursue and to combat the racism and anti-Semitism that continues to target America’s Blacks and Jews.