Farrakhan to Speak at UCB but Jewish Student Group Says He Refers to Jews as ‘Bloodsuckers’

The Afrikan Black Coalition Conference, organized by UC Berkeley’s Black Student Union, will be held at UC Berkeley Friday through Sunday. Louis Farrakhan has been invited to attend which has angered some Jewish students who say that Farrakhan’s “anti-Semitic,” according to the Daily Cal.

“Throughout his career, Farrakhan's hateful rhetoric has targeted Jews, the LGBT community, and Israel,” said Jacob Lewis, the co-president of Tikvah, the Jewish student group. Lewis goes on to say in a blog post that Farrakhan refers to “the Jewish people as ‘the Synagogue of Satan’ or ‘bloodsuckers’."

But the chair of the Black Student Union, Salih Muhammad, said the speakers were chosen based on “who the union felt would provide ‘a sense of self-determination’ to conference attendees.” The Daily Cal quotes Muhammad as saying: “Those students are well in their right to subject themselves to anything.”

Noah Ickowitz is SQUELCH! Senator and he has pulled a bill that would support funding to the conference, because he says Farrakhan’s language is tantamount to “hate speech,” according to the Daily Cal.

So should Farrakhan be prohibited from speaking because he engages in 'hate speech'? Or is this a freedom of speech issue.