Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman has issued an apology for antisemitic comments he made on Facebook between 2011 and 2013 that referred to Israelis as “dogs” and offered praise for Hitler, the Star Tribune reported.
The statements, some of which were made in the context of “expressing disgust for same-sex marriage,” according to the report, included referring to then-President Barack Obama as a “slave of the Jewish lobby.”
The five Facebook posts also included Osman writing, “May g-d damn these non-Muslims [and CNN] for kissing Israel’s a**. Jews will never be pleased unless you follow their ways,” the Minnesota Reformer reported. After a user replied that they agree with him, he wrote: “Where’s Hitler when you need him?”
Osman further wrote on Facebook in September 2011 that “We live in the United States of Israel” and said that Obama should not receive the Nobel Peace Prize because he was a “slave of the Jewish lobby, AIPAC. LONG LIVE PALESTINE!”
According to the Reformer, the councillor also posted in January 2013 a video from a pro-Palestinian site titled “Israeli Jews assaulting Africans in Tel Aviv,” commenting: “I can see why Palestinians don’t want [to] share land with these dogs.”
After the posts surfaced, Osman issued an apology in a statement to the news outlet.
“Over a decade ago I made comments about the Jewish community, Israel, and the GLBTQ+ community on social media. I explicitly and absolutely repudiate and disavow everything about these comments. It does not reflect how I feel about Jewish people or faith or the GLBTQ+ community. The friends and allies I have in the both of these communities expect more of me, and I am sorry to them,” he said.
The 38-year-old politician added that he does not recall making the offensive social media posts but is not denying responsibility.
Osman was first elected in 2020 and announced he intends to run for reelection next year.