Ex-major leaguer Kevin Youkilis rebuked the NFL’s DeSean Jackson and his defender, ex-NBA player Stephen Jackson, for the Jew-hatred they whipped up on social media.
By Ezra Stone, United with Israel
Former Boston Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis did not remain quiet this week when retired professional basketball player Stephen Jackson defended the NFL’s DeSean Jackson, who was taken to task for posting vile anti-Semitic conspiracies falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler.
Youkilis’ comments were in response to DeSean Jackson’s Instagram story with a photo from a page containing the following passage: “Hitler said, ‘because the white Jews knows that [African-Americans] are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas [sic] secret the Jews will blackmail America.’ … The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.”
The final line on the page concludes, “Hitler was right,” with other portions of the page referring to a plan by “white Jews” for “world domination” and accusations that the Jewish people are not the authentic descendants of the Bible’s Children of Israel.
DeSean Jackson also shared Instagram posts praising anti-Semitic hate-preacher Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.
In response, Youkilis tweeted, “Here to sit down and talk about how that quote is hateful and has instilled fear within the Jewish community for decades. So many of us within the Jewish community have marched and stood behind the cause to end all bigotry. Hope you find it in your heart to apologize for this.”
While DeSean Jackson issued an apology, former NBA player Stephen Jackson defended the posts, uploading a later-deleted video in which he commented, “So I just read a statement that the Philadelphia Eagles posted regarding DeSean Jackson’s comments. He was trying to educate himself, educate people, and he’s speaking the truth. Right? He’s speaking the truth. You know he don’t hate nobody, but he’s speaking the truth of the facts that he knows and trying to educate others,” ESPN reported.
On Instagram Live, Stephen Jackson also proceeded to rant about the Rothschild family, whom he claimed “own all the banks.”
“The Jews are the richest,” Jackson began.
His host interrupted him and reminded him that the Rothschilds don’t represent the “whole Jewish community” and don’t actually “own all the banks.”
Afterward, Stephen Jackson clearly denounced Hitler, but doubled down on his comments about rich Jews, claiming, “I haven’t said one thing that’s not true yet.”
One day earlier, Jackson appeared to address the Jewish community in a post stating, “Your race’s pain doesn’t hurt more than the next race’s pain. Don’t act like your hardships [are] more devastating [than] ours.”
Jackson also expressed his “love” for preacher Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who promotes anti-Semitic theories and claimed in a speech last year he “separate[s] the good Jews from the satanic Jews.”
DeSean Jackson later issued two apologies for his anti-Semitic posts.
Stephen Jackson appeared on CNN, saying he does not “hate Jews.” He also “apologiz[ed] for using the wrong words” and reiterated that he denounces Hitler.