The Rev. Louis Farrakhan told churchgoers on Sunday that Israelis and “Zionist Jews” played key roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead.

“We now know that the crime they say is at the root of terrorism was not committed by Arabs or Muslims at all,” the Nation of Islam leader said in Chicago Sunday at Saviours’ Day 2015 Part 2, a local CBS affiliate reported.

“It is now becoming apparent that there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks,” Mr. Farrakhan said. “Now look, if they can prove me wrong, like I said, I’ll pay with my life. Since they want to kill me anyway. Prove me wrong. We’re dealing with thieves and liars and murderers. Listen to this: We know that many Israelis were arrested immediately after the attacks, but quickly released and sent to Israel.

“We know that the World Trade Center was insured by its owner Larry Silverstein right before the attack,” he continued. “We know that an Israeli film crew dressed as Arabs were filming the Twin Towers before the first plane went in. In other words, these Israelis had full knowledge of the attacks.

“We know that many Jews received a text message not to come to work on September 11th. Who sent that message that kept them from showing up?” Mr. Farrakhan asked. “Within minutes of the attacks, Ehud Barak, the founder and master of the Israeli military’s covert operation force, was in a London studio of the BBC blaming Osama bin Laden and calling for a war on terror. And we know that Benjamin Netanyahu told an audience in Israel, we are benefitting from one thing and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon and the American struggle in Iraq. He added that these catastrophes and wars would swing the American public opinion in the favor of Israel.”

Mr. Farrakhan then called on the U.S. to investigate these claims.

“Why won’t America investigate what these scholars and scientists have uncovered about 9/11 and who was really behind it?” he asked. “It now appears that 9/11 was a false flag operation, which is an attack by one country but made to appear like that attack came from another in order to start a war between them. Is this what friendship is?”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish NGO that fights against anti-Semitism, said Mr. Farrakhan’s latest speech “reaffirms his status as the leading anti-Semite in America.”

“Farrakhan is the pied piper of bigotry. No one perhaps since Father Coughlin has been able to so use and abuse his status as a religious leader with a large audience to obsessively harp on about perceived Jewish power and influence,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, said in a statement Thursday. “At a time when anti-Semitic attitudes in America are at historic lows, Farrakhan’s unabashed promotion of anti-Semitism is a throwback to the intolerance of another era.”

Mr. Foxman added, “Unlike most fringe anti-Semites, Farrakhan still has a significant following who not only listen raptly, but who cheer him on with every new insult.”

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