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| Middle East |
| The Strange Nexus of Whitney Houston, Sharon & the Black Hebrews |
| 2003-05-28 |
| Edited for brevity Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown ... say they are there [Israel] on a private visit to see a sect called the Black Hebrews. Some believe the Black Hebrews are not really Jewish. And they are not particularly welcome by Israel, which has tried at various times to expel them or limit their legal status. Some even consider them a dangerous cult, run since 1967 by a former Baptist from Chicago named Ben Ami, aka Ben Israel or Ben Carter, whose real name is Gerson Parker, a 62-year-old former metallurgist and self-appointed savior. We'll call him Carter for the purposes of this column. The connection began at Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March in 1995. At that rally, Farrakhan cited Carter, who was in the audience, as his "brother." O.K. Stop the presses. Farrakhan calling a Hebrew "my brother". My incredulity is tempered by the previous passage which states that the Black Hebrews aren't really Jews. Read on, it gets better. The Black Hebrews, ... have been trying to enlist her and Brown in their cause for some time. Whitney has since been pressured to make the trip. Adding to the pressure is the fact Brown's sister, known as Lele, is a Farrakhan supporter, who has also been lobbying the couple. Great career move Whitney - you're on a roll now. Next you can take out ads in Farrakhan's execrable "The Call". Carter's group, The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, or Black Hebrews, operates in the U.S. in several cities including Atlanta (where Houston and Brown live), Cleveland, (of course, Farrakhan's homebase) Charleston, Tallahassee, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington (where they operate the Prince Asiel Center), Houston and the island of St. Croix. Hmmmm. They are said to have millions of dollars in real estate assets. In most of these locations they function out of a restaurant chain called the Soul Vegetarian. At the Atlanta restaurant last night, I was told on the phone that I should speak to one of the "saints" who run the place. The person who answered the phone said she was a member of "the Kingdom." In fact, Gerson Parker, aka Ben Carter, managed to take 350 African Americans from Chicago in 1967 and bring them to Liberia. Two years later they emigrated to Israel, believing they were the "lost tribe" of Israel. But the Black Hebrews are well known in Israel and elsewhere as black supremacists. They also believe in polygamy -- marriage to many women at once -- and are vegetarians. That does it! Black supremacists and polygamy I can tolerate, but vegetarians! Members who do not follow their practices are punished. Some in the group are also criminals. I am shocked. In 1986, a group of Black Hebrews — led by Carter's American disciple Warren Brown, aka Prince Asiel ("angel of healing") — was found guilty by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of operating an international crime ring that trafficked in millions of dollars worth of stolen airline tickets and used bogus credit cards and worthless checks to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. The convictions were overturned, and when prosecutors sought a retrial, Prince Asiel pleaded to a lesser charge. In 1990, a U.S.-affiliated offshoot sect of Black Hebrews in Miami — led by Yahweh Ben Yahweh, aka Hulon Mitchell Jr. — was indicted for conspiring to commit murder and racketeering. Prosecutors said Yahweh directed followers to commit 14 murders, two attempted murders and the firebombing of a Delray Beach neighborhood. Several of the victims were decapitated with a machete and others had their ears cut off as proof of the slayings. Must have been trained by Uday. Friends are worried Carter's group will use a vulnerable Houston for their own purposes. That idea seems to have validity since Houston and Brown were photographed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon upon their arrival. Sharon, like most Israelis, shuns the Black Hebrews, considers them a cult and would never have agreed to be associated with the group. The salient question. Why then did Sharon even agree to an appearance with these two? This had to have been a mistake on Sharon's handlers part. |
| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #6 Farrakhan(a bigot of the first order)called Judisiam a"Gutter Religion",wonder how Whitney feels about being relegated to the gutter. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-05-29 09:05:11 |
| #5 I saw Sharon with Houston and Brown this morning on TV. He looked as uncomfortable as Hillary at the 9/11 tribute special. He must have wondered "What in the hell am I doing with these two lunatics." |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-28 16:41:31 |
| #4 Sure an' the next stop'll be Eire-land, to look up the Black Irish... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-28 16:40:08 |
| #3 If Sharon shuns the Black Hebrews, why in the hell did he meet with these two crackheads? I wonder about his thinking process. |
| Posted by: MusicMan 2003-05-28 15:52:19 |
| #2 I suspect there is so much heat on Houston and Brown in the states, that none of the Atlanta area crack dealers will touch them. So... where do you go when you need crack, can't get it yourself, and have star-power to offer Farrakhan? To Farrakhan, of course. He's got brothers that can help, and will happily lead you to them. And I'll bet that the Black Supremists, Polygamist, Scam artist, Serial Killers, Cult donate to Farrakhan. I'm shocked! Shocked! that someone would say that Farrakhan deals with the likes of Black Supremists. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-05-28 15:45:24 |
| #1 The only reason they probably went over there is that they heard that they had some good crack. Meeting him was the worst thing that ever happened to her. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-28 15:12:01 |