LOS ANGELES – The Reverend Jesse Jackson took the witness stand in his own defense here yesterday as he sought to fend off a lawsuit from a conservative black preacher who claims he was assaulted, threatened, and prevented from leaving a meeting the civil rights leader organized in 2001.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury is considering the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson’s allegations that he was intimidated by Rev. Jackson and his supporters after publicly questioning an arrangement he worked out with the Toyota Motor Company to direct $700 million in contracts to minority businesses. After referring to the deal as a “shakedown,” Rev. Peterson contends he asked whether all the contracts would be awarded through a group run by Rev. Jackson, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and whether conservative organizations would be able to take part.

According to an audiotape of the December 10, 2001, event, Mr. Jackson replied, “The issue is not conservatives or liberals. The issue is some parasites who want to pick up apples from trees they didn’t shake.”

In his testimony yesterday, Rev. Jackson insisted that his “parasite” remark was not directed at Rev. Peterson. “It was not aimed at anyone really,” Rev. Jackson said.

During two hours of testimony, Rev. Jackson said repeatedly that he urged those at the meeting to remain calm after Rev. Peterson spoke and they did so. “Nothing happened. He was seen for what he was and the role he was playing,” Rev. Jackson said. “I would not go for the provocation.”

Rev. Jackson said he had seen similar “provocateurs” in the 1960s at events attended by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. “Obviously, something was amiss,” Rev. Jackson said of Rev. Peterson’s actions at the Los Angeles meeting. Despite the analogies to the two slain black leaders, Rev. Jackson said he did not believe Rev. Peterson intended physical harm. “I did not think he was so threatening as he was irreverent,” Rev. Jackson said.

Rev. Peterson’s lawsuit asserts that as the meeting to discuss minority business opportunities broke up he was struck by Rev. Jackson’s son, Jonathan. “He came right up to me and hit me,” Rev. Peterson said yesterday. He maintains that he was struck in the shoulder by Jonathan Jackson’s elbow. “He tried to do it again but they held him back,” Rev. Peterson testified. The Jacksons contend there was no assault.

Rev. Peterson also said that after he asked questions about the role of Rev. Jackson’s group in Toyota’s outreach program, the crowd turned on him, making him fear for his life. “I was shocked at the anger and the hostility and the name calling,” he said. Rev. Peterson claimed that someone in the crowd shouted, “You better get this nigger out of here before we kill him.”

The meeting, which took place at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, was called by Rev. Jackson’s group to discuss a deal it negotiated with Toyota after threatening a boycott of the company over an alleged lack of minority suppliers and dealers. Rev. Peterson has conceded that one of his assistants used a false name to gain an invitation to the event, which both sides in the suit have agreed was open to the public.

Rev. Jackson said Rev. Peterson was wrong to claim that minority businesses needed to become paid members of a Rainbow/PUSH trade project in order to benefit from the Toyota outreach program. However, Rev. Jackson conceded that he did make a comment to the business leaders that the organization was like Noah’s Ark and that those who didn’t join could get washed away. “It was not mandatory that they join, but I appealed to them that they join.”

Rev. Jackson said that his organization refused any contribution from Toyota in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety in the deal. “We deserved it. We didn’t do it,” he said.

At a news conference following yesterday’s court session, Rev. Jackson said he, his organization, and his son were victims of a plot involving Rev. Peterson, his aides, conservative television personalities such as Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, and the conservative legal organization that is representing Rev. Peterson, Judicial Watch. “It was a kind of setup,” Rev. Jackson said. “It’s an ugly political scenario. … This is a bigger web than a guy who said he was hit on the shoulder.”

Rev. Jackson said that at the time of the Los Angeles meeting Messrs. O’Reilly and Hannity were urging a boycott of Toyota for agreeing to the minority business deal.

In an interview with Mr. O’Reilly two days after the disputed meeting, Rev. Peterson said his challenge to Rev. Jackson prompted pandemonium. “All hell broke loose. There were about 200 black men and women there, some Hispanic, but mostly blacks. And when I said that, everybody, oh not everybody, most people stood up. They started calling me names. They were screaming and yelling at me,” Rev. Peterson said.