Rahm Emanuel. Photo: wiki commons.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is welcoming the support of Louis Farrakhan in the fight to reduce Chicago’s soaring crime rate, ignoring the history of Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic remarks and speeches.

Deborah Silverman, a local Chicago area politician who also happens to be an Orthodox Jew says Farrakhan’s commitment to fighting crime is a positive but “but it doesn’t eradicate the comments that he’s made about the Jewish community,” according to the Chicago Sun Times.

“People of faith have a role to play and community leaders have a role to play in helping to protect our neighborhoods and our citizens,” Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem, said.  “You cannot get there on just one piece of an anti-crime strategy.”

In a recent Sunday sermon, Farrakhan claimed Jews control the American media and banking systems, and that “you can’t go nowhere in their world without paying obeisance to them”.

According to the Times, Chicago has seen a 40% spike in the city’s homicide rate and this fact cuts into Emanuel’s desire to “market Chicago to international tourists”.

“The police have a role to play. Tearing down abandoned buildings has a role to play. Shutting liquor stores that are a cancer in the community have a role to play. Community leaders have a role to play. Pastors have a role to play. Principals have a role to play. And most importantly, parents have roles to play. They have decided, the Nation of Islam, to help protect the community. And that’s an important ingredient, like all the other aspects of protecting a neighborhood,” he said.

A video of a recent anti-Semitic rant by Farrakhan is posted below.