Farrakhan calls Jackson 'messianic voice.'

CHICAGO, July 27 (UPI) -- Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan says entertainer Michael Jackson was a victim of Zionist leaders, the U.S. government and the media.

In a wide-ranging, two-hour speech Sunday at a Chicago mosque, Farrakhan, 76, provided few details of what he saw as a conspiracy against Jackson, who died June 25 in Los Angeles at 50, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday.

Addressing 2,000 followers, Farrakhan described Jackson as a "messianic voice" and an "archangel of sound, song and dance," the Chicago Tribune reported.

Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Jewish United Fund, said he was surprised by how many people rationalize Farrakhan's continuing anti-Semitism, the Tribune reported.

Blaming Jews by invoking the euphemism of 'Zionists' is a traditional theme of Farrakhan's whenever he wants to blame something on somebody else, Tcath told the Tribune.

"Farrakhan has continued to enjoy a respectability and mainstream acceptance that no one else with a 25-plus-year track record of bigotry could ever enjoy," Tcath said, calling Farrakahn "unrepentant hater."