Rotary forgets its own values and history in elevating bigot to leadership

Rotary International is one of the most respected service organizations in the world. So it is disappointing that the organization has chosen someone with a history of bigoted language to lead its “Orange County L.A.” chapter.

Farrah N. Khan is a former Irvine mayor, and was, until recently, a respected member of the community. She is not related to the notorious anti-white and anti-Jewish leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, despite their similar names — but their rhetoric sounds similar lately.

Khan’s bigotry emerged in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. She posted an Al Jazeera article about an alleged “Israeli” attack on a girls’ school in Minab, Iran. She added: “The sick pedophiles/cannibals are doing what they do best.”

It turns out that the airstrike on the Minab school, near an Iranian military base, was carried out by the U.S., not by Israel. And the phrase “pedophiles/cannibals” appeared to reference Jeffrey Epstein (who happened to be Jewish) while also paying homage to a medieval anti-Jewish blood libel.

Khan later claimed she was referring to the Israeli military and government officials. But it was not her only unhinged post.

Khan made these statements after she left office. And is entitled to say whatever she wants, under the First Amendment.

But she made them in public, so they are fair game for scrutiny. And Khan’s rhetoric contrasts sharply with what Rotary believes.

As local community leader Julie Heiman wrote at The California Post recently, Rotary is famous for its “Four Way Test”: “1. Is it the TRUTH? 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

Clearly, Khan’s statements fail that test — as does Rotary’s decision to elevate her.

Rotary has faced criticism in the past. In 1953, a Rotary Club in London hosted a speaker who delivered a lecture on “The Case for Apartheid.”

In Nazi Germany, many Rotary clubs complied with the regime and kicked out Jewish or “free-thinking” members. A few did not. Those expelled included intellectual Thomas Mann and future West German prime minister Konrad Adenauer.

Today, Rotarians study these painful episodes to learn how to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Selecting someone with openly bigoted views suggests that Rotary has yet to take the lessons of history to heart.

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