Jason Whitlock: Why Do You Keep Supporting a Hateful Antisemitic Supremacist?
Jason Whitlock: Why Do You Keep Supporting a Hateful Antisemitic Supremacist?
Popular sports commentator JASON WHITLOCK has interviewed "Bishop" Nathanyel Israel twice. The positive coverage was extensive but the pushback was minimal. Why?
On August 31, 2019, the IUIC Hebrew Israelites organized a march attended by 1,000 individuals in Chicago. Recently, in light of increased violence, they organized another march and blitz in Chicago’s O-Block. On Friday, July 29, 2023, Jason Whitlock of Fearless TV interviewed the leader of IUIC about the march/blitz and complimented him more than once. This isn’t the first time this sequence happened; Whitlock has interviewed Nathanyel twice in 9 months now. But Nathanyel and his IUIC group are hateful, anti-Christian, and antisemitic supremacists. So why would Whitlock, an outspoken conservative who says he is a biblical Christian, want to promote IUIC in any way?
WHO IS IUIC?
Israel United in Christ (IUIC) is a One West Hebrew Israelites sect established in 2003 in New York. Founder Nathaniel Ray (aka Bishop Nathanyel Ben Israel) was previously a member of the House of David camp. Prior to that, he was a member of the Israeli Church of Universal Practical Knowledge, before it split in 1995. IUIC has approximately 10,000 members, over 70 United States locations, and an international presence in more than 20 countries.
WHO IS JASON WHITLOCK?
Jason Whitlock is a popular sports and political commentator who hosts Fearless with Jason Whitlock on Blaze TV. Whitlock is a former radio personality and columnist for multiple entities, most notably ESPN. He has 182,000 followers on Instagram, 330,000 on Facebook, 740,000 on Twitter and 348,000 subscribers on YouTube.
On November 29, 2022, in the wake of a furor over Kyrie Irving’s tweet (see my commentary on the furor here) promoting the conspiracy-laden film Hebrews to Negroes by Ron Dalton, Jr., Whitlock interviewed Nathanyel Ben Israel of IUIC to the tune of 382,000 views. Nathanyel lied multiple times during the interview, which I covered here:
EXPOSING IUIC
My contention is this: Whitlock only offers minimal pushback on Nathanyel and compliments IUIC for their efforts at unity. It’s evident from the interviews, he doesn’t understand much of what Hebrew Israelism is all about, which is ironic, because in an article for Blaze TV, Whitlock chastised others for not interviewing the IUIC leader and writing “Never mind that most people have no idea what Black Hebrew Israelites believe.” Frankly, Whitlock should count himself in that group.
Regardless, IUIC is one group within One West Israelism. IUIC is also the largest. Below are three problematic categories relating to some of what IUIC believes and openly teaches.
#1: IUIC MINIMIZES THE HOLOCAUST
The following is a quote from Nathanyel. It comes from an interview titled, "Let’s Talk: Israel United in Christ” on the Rave TV Channel (Feb. 16, 2020). It should be noted that he was smiling during the beginning part of this quote:
Germans and the so-called Europeans that got burnt up, okay? Six million, you said, right? Six million got burnt — they’re all the same race. They are the Edomites in the Bible, they’re the devil.
Now, let me show you how witchcraft works. You were so adamant about “Six million! Six!” Your ancestors! Your ancestors! Over 200 million died during the Transatlantic Slave Trade but you don't mention that as horrific.
You mentioned the six million of another race. You don't see that’s witchcraft?
Nathanyel refers to the Jewish people who were murdered as “six million” devils “of another race” who “got burnt up”. All while smiling. And he chastises the African host for bringing it up, calling it a result of “witchcraft.” Think about that.
According to IUIC, who is performing the witchcraft? It seems the answer can be found in a lesson from January 21, 2020. Here, an IUIC leader says this of the Jewish community: “They lie in their media, they lie in their synagogues, they lie all over the place, everything they do is about lying.”
In the same lesson, IUIC leadership refers to Jews as the following:
”the devil that the Bible even speaks of”
“the so-called Jews”
“the house of demons”
and “evil despots” (specific to Chasidic Jews)
#2: IUIC BLAMES TA SLAVE TRADE ON JEWISH PEOPLE
On Twitter on December 4, 2022, Nathanyel tweeted, Jews are “the Red Hebrew Israeli Amalekites” and accused them of “extensive involvement in the slave-trading and #HOLOCAUST of the Negroes.” Here are three more examples of IUIC pinning the TAST on the Jewish community:
“We are still waiting for the #Jewish apology for their #participation in the largest #Holocaust know to man!” (July 26, 2020, Nathanyel’s Twitter)
“Black people have been experiencing a Holocaust since the 1400s and the #Jewish man has perpetuated the situation.” (October 1, 2020 on Nathanyel’s Twitter and on the main Facebook account of the IUIC)
“Shame.Shame.Shame. Look who is behind the greatest #atrocity on the face of #earth! Believe it or not but the so called #Jews were major players in the #transatlantic slave trade! Don’t think for a second they have changed their perception of black people!...” (March 31, 2023, caption posted on a TikTok video)
#3: IUIC CALLS FOR DEATH & ENSLAVEMENT OF JEWS!
IUIC, like all advocates of black Israelism, claims they are the real Israelites and that modern Jewish people are wicked frauds. IUIC Kansas City proclaimed this in a video: “These Ashkenazi Jews, or Ashkenazi Edomites, they’re not Jews. They’re not the Jews! You understand?”
This kind of rhetoric is all over a July 2020 lesson, “Hitler, Antisemitism & the Real Jews of God”. This video was later banned from YouTube. I was able to watch it first and it was also promoted on Facebook and Twitter. The next day, IUIC uploaded “I apologize for Anti-Semitism” to Facebook. It was filled with extremely derogatory statements towards Jewish people.
But it doesn’t stop there. A cohort of IUIC leaders and members traveled to Jerusalem in 2019 and posted numerous videos from the trip. In one part, they went to the Wailing Wall. Here are some of the comments from that section:
NATHANYEL: (laughs) ”We wrote our prayers to Hashem and we put it into the wall.”
CAMERA MAN: “What did it say, Bishop?”
NATHANYEL: ”Death to all Esau and all Idumea. Rise, Israel, arise.” (laughs)CAMERA MAN: “Cap, what you wrote?”
CAP: ”Isaiah 14:1-5. Christ is black and Esau’s going into slavery. And all Esau.”NATHANYEL: “Listen, that’s how we do at IUIC. We ain’t putting on no yamaka. We ain’t doing what they say. We the real inhabitants of the land. Ya’ll better put some respect on it, ya’ll understand that.”
What do these comments mean?
Nathanyel is asking God to allow the true Israelites (his group) to kill all descendants of the biblical Esau, the Edomites. On an IUIC rendering, the kingdom of Idumea includes modern day Europeans and their descendants but the chief offender in this group (for IUIC) are the Jewish people. IUIC sees Jewish people as not only Edomites but specifically Amalekites, a specifically egregious kind of Edomite.
The IUIC “captain” is asking God to hasten the forced enslavement of Europeans (and their descendants) and the Jewish people, as this is how his group understands Isaiah 14:1-5, which he cited.
This exchange is from “The Land of Israel Documentary, Part 1” on the IUICEvents Youtube channel, dated on July 27, 2019. Here are a few screenshots:
BE RESPONSIBLE, JASON: YOU MUST DO BETTER!
IUIC are bigots and their group is founded on segregation and supremacy. For example, in a Facebook upload on October 6, 2020, IUIC wrote this:
“Any leader yearning for equality is misguided. Never has equality existed among mankind. Fortunately for the Israelites, We are next for Rulership.”
Nathanyel teaches his followers they will literally rule over other, inferior people based strictly on their God loving their ethnicity and hating others. In fact, some of this came out during today’s interview as well. Immediately, Nathanyel began bashing Dowell’s theology in today’s interview. Then, Nathanyel started off talking about loyalty to race being paramount right next to loyalty to God. Whitlock did question Nathanyel about that. Briefly. But it’s not enough.
Here’s what needs to happen: Whitlock must not invite Nathanyel back UNLESS he agrees to be questioned, at length and in depth, by someone who understands One Westism. Someone besides Whitlock himself. Perhaps even Virgil or Chocolate Knox together. That’s a natural fit, as those are two of Whitlock’s associates who know urban apologetics.
That’s the first option. Here’s the second: Whitlock must invite a follow up guest to analyze the interview and critique Nathanyel. Essentially, a fact-checker who will fact-check IUIC’s claims. Last time he did a version of this, where he brought Dowell and some of the Straitway NFL guys on to give their view. This is not enough, as Dowell is also a Hebrew Israelite leader and won’t critically engage Nathanyel’s wild theology ruthlessly, as needed, because Dowell himself is an advocate!
Either way, Whitlock must do better. As of now, his desire to see unity is overriding his ability to see what truly benefits and what harms the community. Yes, IUIC can put on displays of public unity. But these shows or organization benefit IUIC only. IUIC’s ideology is so hateful, delusional, and strife-inducing that anything that helps IUIC will ultimately harm the larger community. Whitlock needs to discern this, sooner and not later.
