NEW YORK, April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has experts available to discuss the "National Day of Action" events scheduled to be held April 23 in Washington, DC and at least 40 other cities across the United States by the virulently anti-Semitic and racist Black militant group, the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

The New Black Panther Party (NBPP), the largest organized anti-Semitic and racist Black militant group in America, has used troubling language to describe several of the events.  The group has stated that opposing Jews and "Zionism" is one of the "pressing issues" they wish to address, among myriad other social and political issues.  Its leadership has also made threats of militant action in some cities, with one NBPP leader recommending that children attending the Philadelphia event wear bicycle helmets and another claiming that "we are trained and ready here in Killadelphia."

The group's organizers are calling the April 23 "Day of Action" its most ambitious endeavor since the Million Youth March of 1998, which ended with clashes with police in Harlem after a series of anti-Semitic and racist speakers took the podium.

According to ADL, NBPP has a long record of anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric, and the group continues to make clear its antagonism toward Jews and "Zionists."  The group's anti-Jewish agenda is clear from promotional materials and comments by NBPP leaders in the run-up to the events:

• Promotional materials for the event include Zionism among the "pressing issues" necessitating the action.
• Promotional materials for the event state that the event goals "must be achieved by any means necessary."
• The NBPP has cited opposition to Zionism and what it views as Jewish economic exploitation of Blacks as being among the reasons the NBPP is organizing the event: "It's good to expose the manipulation... the abuses of the Zionists and the Jews, how they have manipulated our community and [sic] sucking are resources," said national chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz. "They still have their hands in our economy. They still are making money off of us... why don't we start to impact the economy of our oppressor?"
• The NBPP has indicated that it plans to organize a rally outside of at least one Jewish institution in Baltimore. In addition, Shabazz has cited an alleged assault of a Black teenager by Jewish men in Baltimore in November 2010 as being among the reasons that supporters there should mobilize: "If … you're mad about it and you're ready to load up and go over there and go deal with it on April 23, check right on in."

According to the NBPP, "Day of Action" events are slated take place in the following locations:  New York, NY; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Norfolk, VA; St. Louis, MO; Baton Rouge, LA; Nashville, TN; Lebanon, TN; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Lakeland, FL; Athens, GA; Charlotte, NC; San Antonio, TX; Detroit, MI; Trenton, NJ; Milwaukee, WI;  Hartford, Ct; Selma, AL; Oakland, CA; Houston, TX; Charleston, WV; Morgantown, WV; Birmingham, AL; Tampa, FL; Wilmington, NC; Baltimore, MD; Harrisburg, PA; Milwaukee, WI; Jacksonville, FL; Louisville, KY; Watts, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Raleigh, NC; Columbia, SC; Augusta GA; St. Petersburg, FL; Irvington, NJ; Brooklyn, NY.

ADL Online resources:

• Backgrounder: Malik Zulu Shabazz
• Backgrounder: New Black Panther Party (NBPP)

SOURCE Anti-Defamation League