A Jewish councilman who said ‘Palestine does not exist’ removed from Immigration Committee

(QNN) – Kalman Yeger, a Brooklyn councilman who represents the Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park, has been removed from the immigration committee after his hateful and racist post on Twitter, saying that “Palestine does not exist”.

On Monday, the New York City Council’s leadership team met for more than an hour and decided to remove Mr. Yeger from the immigration committee, according to the New York Times.

The Brooklyn lawmaker sparked a social media backlash Wednesday by a quote tweet denying the existence of Palestine and accusing congresswoman Ilhan Omar of being an anti-Semite.

Palestine does not exist.
There, I said it again.
Also, Congresswoman Omar is an antisemite. Said that too.
Thanks for following me. https://t.co/apM565HoEV

— Kalman Yeger ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם (@KalmanYeger) March 27, 2019

Yeger started the thread after quoting a tweet for Omar where she denounced comments and criticism against her by the Israeli PM Netanyahu at the AIPAC conference, and accusing her of anti-Semitism

You're an antisemite and a member of Congress. It's not strange that you'd be mentioned. Anyway, what are you complaining about? It's what you want. https://t.co/e5XTRixub5

— Kalman Yeger ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם (@KalmanYeger) March 26, 2019

Yeger’s tweet that denied the existence of Palestine was a direct response to a post by Zainab Iqbal, a writer for the blog Bklyner, who had posted a story she wrote in March 2018 citing Yeger’s previous anti-Palestine remarks.

brooklyn council member calls ilhan omar an antisemite. this is the same council member who has repeatedly said that palestine does not exist and refers to them as “so-called palestinians”https://t.co/lfdaUf1Nsx https://t.co/uOTziGwih3

— zainab iqbal (@planetzainab) March 27, 2019

Participants in the City Council’s meeting said there was “broad consensus” that Mr. Yeger’s views were inconsistent with the committee’s mission.

“I do not believe that someone who engages in the type of rhetoric we heard from Council Member Yeger belongs on the immigration committee, which is supposed to welcome and support immigrants in our city,” Corey Johnson, the Council’s speaker, said in a statement.