Minneapolis Ward 6 City Councilman Jamal Osman (D) (Photo: Minneapolismn.gov)

A Minneapolis City Councilman has apologized this week for antisemitic and anti-gay marriage social media posts that included asking “Where’s Hitler when you need him?” and calling former President Barack Obama a “slave of the Jewish lobby.”

Jamal Osman, a Democrat representing Minneapolis’ 6th Ward, issued the apology after his posts, dating from 2011 to 2013, were first reported by the Minnesota Reformer. The posts were deleted in October.

“I explicitly and absolutely repudiate and disavow everything about these comments,” Osman said in his apology last week. “It does not reflect how I feel about Jewish people or faith or the GLBTQ+ [sic] community. The friends and allies I have in the both of these communities expect more of me, and I am sorry to them.”

Osman was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a refugee before being elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 2020.

Posting on Facebook during the 2012 Israeli military operation in the Gaza strip, Osman accused CNN of “kissin Israel a** [sic]” and said that Christians and Jews “will never be pleased with you unless you follow their ways,” quoting a verse of the Qur’an. Replying to someone agreeing with that post, Osman asked “Where’s Hitler when you need him?”.

In 2011, Osman posted that “we live in the united states of israel [sic]” and that Obama “is the slave of the Jewish lobby. AIPAC etc. LONG LIVE PALESTINE!!!” referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Osman’s posts also included opposition to gay marriage, calling it a “BIG sin” and a “discussing [sic] act.”

“I have grown through being several different people since these posts were made. I have graduated from college, I have gotten married, and been exposed to so much more about the world,” Osman added in his apology statement. “These comments could not be further from how I hope to conduct myself every day on the council.”

Osman will be up for re-election in 2023.

Follow Algemeiner Washington Correspondent Andrew Bernard on Twitter @AndrewJBernie