(CNN) -- A Catholic church in Chicago is planning to host a speech by Minister Louis Farrakhan on Thursday night, just a week after the Nation of Islam leader was one of several people banned from Facebook for promoting "violence and hate."
At least one Jewish-led organization is criticizing the church, saying it will provide a "platform for bigotry."
Farrakhan's address at St. Sabina Catholic Church will be a response to the "public outrage over the unprecedented and unwarranted lifetime ban" by Facebook and Instagram, the Nation of Islam said in a statement on Wednesday.
Facebook owns Instagram and its ban applies to both social media platforms.
"This unjust sanction deprives the American public and others of the basic right to know. It is an abridgement of free speech in a country that presents itself as a democracy and does no public good," said Ishmael Muhammad, an aide to Farrakhan.
A staffer at St. Sabina said the church plans to livestream Farrakhan's speech on its website and Facebook page, despite the social media platform's ban.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina, said he has known and worked with Farrakhan for 30 years andhas denounced Facebook for banning the controversial leader.
"This is a free-speech issue," Pfleger told CNN. "I don't agree with everything Minister Farrakhan has said. I don't agree with anyone on everything, but we are in a dangerous time when we can no longer have dialogue without demonizing one another."
Some groups are pushing back on Farrakhan's appearance
But one local Jewish-led organization is blasting St. Sabina for hosting Farrakhan, who has a long history of anti-Semitic statements.
"The Holocaust started with hatred and prejudice," said Fritzie Fritzshall, an Auschwitz survivor and president of the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois. The museum is holding a press conference Thursday to protest St. Sabina's decision to host Farrakhan.
"When community leaders like Father Pfleger provide a platform for bigotry and anti-Semitism, it increases the threat against all of humanity," Fritzshall said.
Phil Andrew, the Archdiocese of Chicago's director of violence prevention, will be among those at the Illinois Holocaust Museum denouncing St. Sabina for hosting Farrakhan, according to a museum spokesman.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Chicago that its leader, Cardinal Blase Cupich, was not consulted before Pfleger announced the event with Farrakhan and that the archdiocese is "not sponsoring" the speech.
The Anti-Defamation League said they will be monitoring Farrakhan's speech. The watchdog group has called Farrakhan, who has led the Nation of Islam since 1977, "quite possibly America's most popular anti-Semite."
"Farrakhan has alleged that the Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade and that they conspire to control the government, the media and Hollywood, as well as various black individuals and organizations,"the ADL says.
The minister has long been a controversial figure
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam as a "hate group," saying that the "deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-gay rhetoric of its leaders, including top minister Louis Farrakhan, have earned the NOI a prominent position in the ranks of organized hate."
In a speech in Chicago in 2018,Farrakhan said,"the powerful Jews are my enemy. "White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God's grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew and I'm here to say your time is up, your world is through."
Pfleger, who has long worked with African-American leaders in Chicago, said Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam are respected locally for their anti-violence and anti-drug campaigns.
"Nobody has done more in the saving of young black men's lives and turning around lives than the Nation of Islam. His respect in the African-American community has been consistent."
But Pfleger said emails and phone calls have poured in this week criticizing him for hosting Farrakhan and threatening to withdraw donations to the church and its programs.
"If you would have heard and seen the stuff sent and spoken to me over this last week," he said. "I was shocked -- and I have gotten a lot of hate in my life. People have told me that they will destroy me."
The-CNN-Wire
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