Minister Louis Farrakhan will travel to the Middle East next month on a mission of peace, the Nation of Islam leader announced Tuesday.
Farrakhan has a history of anti-Semitic remarks, so it's doubtful he will be received warmly in Israel.
The black Muslim leader, who once referred to Judaism as "a gutter religion," said he has met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and officials of Hamas and Hezbollah "and practically all of the leaders of the Muslim world."
Speaking at Mosque Maryam, 7351 Stony Island, Farrakhan said he offers "a voice that is not tied to the American political situation."
Peace in the Middle East will take "strong, dispassionate intervention by the United States and United Nations," he said. But he did not sound dispassionate himself.
"All weapons of mass destruction should be eliminated, but if Israel can have them, some Arab state should have them as well," he said.
Voicing sympathy with the Palestinian cause, Farrakhan said African Americans "are in the same position." To enthusiastic applause from his audience of about 150, he added, "We too have been persecuted. . . . We do not have a land we can call our home."
He said America is "leaning heavily" on the side of Israel because of Jewish influence.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush and the American media "have branded Arafat as the principal source of so-called terror," Farrakhan said. "Bush invited Sharon to the White House but refuses to talk to Yasser Arafat."
Farrakhan said he will visit the Middle East "sometime in May," adding, "Before I go, I will tell the American people and the Bush administration what my intentions are. I hope to take with me Christians, Jews, Muslims and Palestinians."
Farrakhan spoke for 32 minutes, a short speech for him. He spent the next 40 minutes giving lengthy answers to reporters' questions.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson last week urged President Bush to protect Arafat, saying he feared the Middle East will erupt in war if Israelis harm the Palestinian leader.