Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

A new missing person flyer popped up near the Bremerton ferry docks for Maleah Ly Bessinger, but at the bottom is an advertisement for Israel United in Christ (IUIC), an extremist Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) movement that’s gone international. Information on the flyer is attributed to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, but TtS could not find information confirming that Bessinger is actively missing.

The flyer said she was last seen on March 8 in Port Orchard, and a Facebook group called Missing in USA also posted a separate flyer for her. Bessinger has gone missing before, but there have been no announcements by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. There is no information about Bessinger on the Washington State Patrol missing person’s page either. The active extremist group has not posted about Bessinger on its social media accounts, and while it does have a missing persons page on its website, it comes up empty.

IUIC is one of the most popular extremist groups in the BHI movement, and is known for promoting antisemitic ideologies, believing that Black people, Native Americans, and Hispanics are the true descendants of ancient Israelites— the Twelve Tribes of Israel specifically. This movement is not associated with Black Jews, but rather considers Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to be false religions.

“BHI teachings become explicitly hateful when coupled with racial superiority and accusations against white individuals and specific hatred towards the Jewish community,” according to the Anti Defamation League. “Extremist Black Hebrew Israelites assert that white people are agents of Satan, Jews are liars and false worshipers of God, and Black are superior and the only true ‘chosen people’… Leaders and street preachers also push homophobic, transphobic and sexist beliefs, including referring to the LGBTQ community as demonic and not loved by God.”

Bishop Nathanyel Ben Israel leads the IUIC, who in a January 20, 2020, sermon said that Jewish people are “the devil the Bible even speaks of,” and called Chasidic Jews “evil despots.” The antisemitic organization has also claimed publicly on Facebook that “Black people have been experiencing a Holocaust since the 1400s and the #Jewish man has perpetuated the situation.” The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has previously stated that these BHI extremist groups have used social media as a primary way of spreading their beliefs.

“They have used social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Periscope to radicalize their members by sharing disinformation in their sermons, intentionally triggering content and sharing injustices carried out against people of color in order to inflame racial tensions and resentment,” according to SPLC.

IUIC defines itself as a Bible-based movement and holds sabbath classes online and in-person, including in Tacoma and Spokane.

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