NYC Mayor in Brouhaha with Jewish Councilman

Apologise for the Truth?

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio demands apology for 'there is no Palestine’ statement made by one of his council members: "There is no state by that name; there is no place by that name. That’s a fact. I did not make it up," says New York City councilman.

Observant Jewish New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger became the subject of controversy last week when he denied the existence of Palestine and called congresswoman Ilhan Omar an antisemite. Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour then attacked Yeger by calling his statement "this kind of hate" and "bigoted."

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio joined in the fray on Friday by giving Yeger an ultimatum to apologize or be removed from the City Council committee on immigrant issues.

“If you’re asking my personal opinion, yeah, I think someone who has the ability to say that about Palestinian people by definition should not be on the Immigration Committee,” the mayor said on WNYC radio, according to the New York Post. arutzsheva

Mr DeBlasio: YOU SHOULD SAY THE SAME TO ILHAN OMAR FOR HER NASTY ANTI-SEMITIC HATE WORDS ABOUT JEWS AND ISRAEL

Mr DeBlasio: Why is it that you do not know that Jordan is full of so-called Palestinians; that the so-called Palestinians in Israel (that includes those living in Gaza) are ‘originally’ pre-‘48 plain Arabs from Egypt, Syria, and other Arab Lands in the Middle East. The so-called Palestinians already have a home, one which they came from and replaced themselves in Eretz Yisrael, the Jewish Biblical Homeland.

Your Councilman is very correct in what he said, there is no people called Palestinians, there is no state, government or flag of Palestinians. There never was in all of history.

The so-called Palestinians ONLY and I repeat ONLY, want to displace the Jews living in their Homeland. It would serve you well to learn about the history of the Middle East and its Arab peoples.

FURTHERMORE

Rabbis demand Sarsour apologize for 'anti-Semitic narrative'

The Coalition for Jewish Values, representing over 1000 traditional rabbis in matters of public policy, is demanding a public apology from activist Linda Sarsour for "peddling in anti-Semitic falsehoods" in order to attack an observant Jewish New York City Councilman, Kalman Yeger.

Yeger observed on Twitter that "Palestine does not exist" while condemning the anti-Semitic statements of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Sarsour responded by calling his statement "this kind of hate" and "bigoted," and demanding that Yeger "apologize publicly to Palestinian New Yorkers.”

"There has never been a country called Palestine," said Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Eastern Regional Vice President of the CJV. "Jews have been connected to the land of Israel continuously for 37 centuries. Find a 'Palestinian' writer from the 6th, 16th or 19th Century, and you will find a Jew. In 1948, the Palestine Post became the Jerusalem Post. 'Palestinian Arabs' are a late 20th-century creation, concocted for the sole purpose of thwarting the national state of the Jewish people."

Rabbi Dov Fischer, Rabbi Pruzansky's Western Regional counterpart, added that "when Ahmed Shukairy launched the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization -ed.) in 1964, the 'Palestine' he sought to 'liberate' was Tel Aviv and Haifa. It was a ploy -- they used the name Palestine because it was too ridiculous to call for the 'liberation' of Judea from Jews."

The CJV further noted that although what was called "Palestine" under the British Mandate includes all of modern-day Jordan, the "Palestine" described by the Palestinian Authority, left-wing groups and terror organizations traces only the borders of Israel's portion. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas described Jordanian and Palestinian Arabs as "one people living in two states" during a speech in 2015, expressly refuting the notion of a "Palestinian" people separate from Jordanians. Jordan is four times the size of Israel, with a population only 10% larger.

"The name Palestine was coined by Greek and Roman colonialists anxious to disenfranchise the natives," Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Managing Director of the CJV, observed, "and that has been its meaning and intent ever since. It is no coincidence that this came up during a discussion of the classic anti-Semitic falsehoods expressed by Rep. Ilhan Omar."

"Israel absorbed the vast majority of the 99% of Jews ethnically cleansed from the Arab world since 1948, while 'Palestinians' have been horribly mistreated by their Arab brethren, kept in camps and as second-class citizens as a weapon against Israel, instead of being permitted to resettle. Achieving peace requires we address the reality -- and to claim that Arabs have a 'right' to take more land from the Jews of Israel inverts reality, in a classically anti-Semitic fashion."
arutzsheva

It looks like the Palestinian Issue is becoming a very HOT ISSUE in New York City, the home of the largest Jewish Community in America היזהר  

ADDENDUM

'Democrats accept Omar's anti-Semitism, but can't handle facts'
Fmr. NY State Assemblyman Dov Hikind excoriates NYC Democratic leaders for removal of city councilman over 'there is no Palestine' tweet.