The ISUPK High Holy Day in Harlem, New York City, New York, Passover 2012The ISUPK performing in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 2014, at the corner of H and 7th Street N.W.
In 2023, a woman of Palestinian descent[5] was arrested in Indianapolis after crashing her car into a building affiliated with ISUPK, having mistaken it due to its name for a school officially linked to the State of Israel. The ISUPK is actually opposed to the state of Israel.[6]
In 2022, The Real Black Sabbath was released. It is a documentary by British journalist Harry Robinson covering the beliefs and practices of the ISUPK, focusing on the Oklahoma branch of the school.[7] The film won the award for 'Most Inspirational Film' at the 2022 Oregon Documentary Film Festival[8] and 'Best Oklahoma Film' at the 2022 Southwest Center Film Festival.[9]
ISUPK has demonstrated many times at the corner of Seventh and H StreetsinWashington, D.C., since 2004,[10] but residents complain that the group amplifies its open-air preaching to more than 90 decibels and that its message is offensive.[11] Some homeowners say that the group accuses white and gay people of destroying historically black neighborhoods, and at least one resident has complained of being called a "cracker, a slave owner, [and] a white devil," but they reiterate that the volume of the group's message, rather than the message's content, is the real problem.[12]
The ISUPK's volume and the volume of other groups prompted Washington's municipal government to consider passing an ordinance in order to "resolve the issue."[13] The measure would have limited the volume of daytime noncommercial speech to 70 decibels, but it died because of free-speech concerns.[14] ISUPK's regional director, General Yahanna, defended the group, saying that residents' real issue was not sound, but the content of the group's message.[13] The group identifies its message as saving local residents' souls and discouraging people from drugs and crime; it regards its separatist teachings as the real objection which residents have.[12]
