San Diego Human Relations Commissioner Khaliq Raufi (top right, in white shirt) is seen making an antisemitic speech at a commission meeting. Photo: Screenshot

A member of San Diego’s Human Relations Commission was forced to step down this week following a furious response to antisemitic comments he proffered at a meeting of the body on July 18, in which he claimed that the Torah instructs Jews to murder Palestinians.

The resignation of the commissioner, Khaliq Raufi, was announced on Wednesday by San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson in a scathing statement.

“Commissioner Raufi’s ignorant comments were hurtful and in no way reflect my personal views, but they do highlight the urgent need to focus on education, bridge building, and to advocate for tolerance,” said Anderson, who appointed Raufi to the 31 member commission. “After meeting with Commissioner Raufi, I have received his resignation letter.”

The city’s Human Relations Commission — which answers to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the county’s legislative branch — was established in May 2020 to “promote positive human relations, respect, and the integrity of every individual regardless of gender, religion, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or citizenship status.”

At the July 18 meeting, which was recorded, Raufi told those in attendance that he had read a few verses of the Book of Deuteronomy — the fifth and final book of the Torah — calling it the “Book of Jews.”

“It states, ‘go kill Palestinians — wipe them all out,'” Raufi claimed. “It’s a teaching that they, on a daily basis, teach their followers in their synagogues. So how are we gonna resolve that?”

At this juncture, Raufi was interrupted by an observer, Sara Brown, the San Diego regional director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), who pointedly asked him, “are you serious right now?”

Brown later expressed her shock that only one of the assembled commissioners — Kate Clark, who works for Jewish Family Services — took Raufi to task for his remarks. “It was so unbelievably shocking in the moment — and even more shocking was the silence of every single commissioner and county staff,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

An editorial in the same outlet quoted San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria’s statement that “hate has no place in San Diego and there will be consequences for those who spread it in our city.” It went on to argue: “The county Human Relations Commission, which needs better vetting and training, must take that to heart. Otherwise, what’s the point of it?”

Raufi delivered his speech during a debate concerning a controversy at the commission the previous month, in which another commissioner — George Khoury, a supporter of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) — denounced Israel as a “racist, fascist state” as he described how his Palestinian family fled from Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence.

In a June 20 letter to the commission following Khoury’s speech, local Jewish leaders noted: “Rather than speak about the importance of Arab American Heritage Month, an opportunity to further celebrate diversity in our San Diego community, Commissioner Khoury’s statement negated Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, diminished the historical Jewish connection to the land, and depicted the creation of Israel as a war crime — language that goes beyond legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies.”