Ice Cube Claims Kareem Abdul-Jabbar "Was Paid Thirty Pieces of Silver" to Condemn Anti-Semitism

When I praised NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's essay denouncing anti-Semitism I was also pensive about the reaction in the African-American community:

While I applaud Abdul-Jabbar for coming to the defense of Jews I fear that his voice will be consigned to the wilderness in the African-American community or simply dismissed as an old man out of touch.

Rapper and actor Ice Cube went further than that tweeting, "Shame on the Hollywood Reporter who obviously gave my brother Kareem 30 pieces of silver to cut us down without even a phone call."

Aside from the fact Kareem Abdul-Jabbar doesn't need the money, Ice Cube's suggestion that Abdul-Jabbar is incapable of thinking for himself is laughable. Abdul-Jabbar has been a thoughtful commentator on social issues long before Cube was wearing diapers. 

Frankly, Ice Cube can only speak in conspiracy theories and doubt he could keep up with Abdul-Jabbar in an adult conversation for five minutes. You know Ice Cube is anti-Semitic when he shares the same anti-Semitic images on social media that former U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn shared on his social media feed. Ice Cube is more of a brother to Corbyn than he ever will be to Abdul-Jabbar.

Ice Cube has long been an apologist for Louis Farrakhan. When CNN's Jake Tapper called out Farrakhan's anti-Semitism, Cube told Tapper to "watch your mouth." What is particularly disturbing is that when Ice Cube is taken to task for his anti-Semitism he digs in his heels. I fear that a critical mass of the African-American community will be drawn to Ice Cube's boldness instead of Abdul-Jabbar's thoughtful introspection. 

It also isn't helpful when my fellow Jews argue that we should only condemn "white anti-Semitism" and ignore "black anti-Semitism". I'm afraid there are some in my community who would rather Jews be murdered than be accused of racism. Anti-Semitism is the willful promotion of hatred against Jews. Like it or not, this is a black and white issue.

Again, I am grateful for Abdul-Jabbar's intervention. But there's something very wrong when a black Muslim is less afraid of condemning anti-Semitism in the African-American community than segments of the Jewish community. If Jews aren't prepared to defend ourselves from Ice Cube's defamation from Ice Cube then how can we be expected to defend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Ice Cube's defamation?