The Black Hebrew Israelites, a fringe religion, once again made headlines in the US at the end of 2022. The group is composed of different sects which essentially agree that African Americans are the direct descendants of the Biblical Israelites.
In the latest viral video, the group was marching in support of Kyrie Irving, returning from an eight-game suspension by the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Brooklyn Nets. Irving received his suspension after posting a link to a documentary by a Hebrew Israelite, which is perceived as antisemitic.
They outside Barclays for Kyrie pic.twitter.com/VnNztmNBHm
— Daemonesha Targaryen (@PlainJaneDee_) November 20, 2022
The documentary was made in 2018, based on the 2014 book “Hebrews to Negroes - Wake Up Black America” by Ronald Dalton. The documentary “exposes” that blacks are the true Biblical descendants and that the people who call themselves Jews today are imposters. Some more extremist sects depict light-skinned people as “agents of Satan” and are unabashedly homophobic and misogynistic. Some sects are also Holocaust deniers.
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE BLACK. THUS, THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES WERE BLACK TOO. SEE EXODUS 2:17-22. IT’S COMMON SENSE. NEED MORE PROOF? GO TO https://t.co/myPxn48zhz, https://t.co/TtSUpMzJLF OR GO TO AMAZON TO WATCH THE “HEBREWS TO NEGROES” MOVIES” THE ADL/JEWS WANTED REMOVED pic.twitter.com/btthRWpY2U
— Ronald Dalton Jr (@hebrews2negroes) January 6, 2023
Irving has since apologized and tweeted that he embraces all walks of life and wants to learn from all religions. Although he is back to playing ball, he has lost the endorsement of the Nike corporation.
Kyrie Irving is no longer a Nike athlete, Nike spokesperson says. The sides have parted ways one month after Nike suspended its relationship with the Nets star. Irving has one of most popular signatures shoes in the NBA and is now a sneaker free agent.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 5, 2022
The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified 144 chapters of the BHI on its annual hate group list. According to the Director of the Law Center’s Intelligence Project, Heidi Beirich. “This is a movement that has been growing pretty rapidly in the last three or four years, largely in reaction to Trump and white nationalism. (BHI) have used these developments to recruit into their movement.”
The group made headlines in January 2019 for shouting insults during what was supposed to be a Native American protest in Washington, D.C. Shopkeepers in Philadelphia sued the group in 2013 for its street preaching, which they say intimidated patrons.
Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, who lives in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, has noticed an uptick in the group’s public presence. He told the Jewish Telegraph Agency that there were two demonstrations in November 2022. In a video the Rabbi tweeted, hundreds of Black Hebrew Israelite members can be seen chanting, “Hey Jacob, it's time to wake up. I’ve got good news for you; we are the real Jews.”
Massive gathering of Black Hebrew Israelites by Grand Army Plaza.
"Hey Jacob, it's time to wake up. I've got good news for you, we are the Real Jews" pic.twitter.com/OE7K54FV3R— Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone (@Mottel) November 20, 2022
Bishop Nathanyel Ben Israel, the demonstrating group’s founder, said, “We are not here for violence. We are here for the spiritual war.”
“We are not here for violence, we are here for the spiritual war.” #GodsArmy #144k #Saviors #Kyrie #Ye #ITSUP #IUIC #Israelites #Nathanyel7 #KyrieIrving #Truth pic.twitter.com/R9drMl0cVA
— Nathanyel7 (@BishopNathanyel) November 21, 2022
No reliable polling exists to determine how many members there are but some sources estimate there are well over a million Black Hebrew Israelites in the United States.
