Philadelphia NAACP President, Rodney Muhammad said he is not anti-Semitic and regrets the pain caused by an image posted on his Facebook page. The explanatory remarks were expressed in a statement published by the NAACP Thursday.
“I do regret the insult, pain and offense it caused to all, particularly those of the Jewish community, by this unfortunate episode,” he said.
Muhammad typed the next words in all capital letters: “I am not nor are any of our members anti-Semitic.”
In his statement, Muhammad said he has worked alongside the Jewish community of Philadelphia for 28 years.
“I have shared often both stage and platform with Jewish rabbis. I have worked on a number of critical issues with a Jewish mayor in Philadelphia,” Muhammad said.
The statement has been published while the calls for his resignation grow. On Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined calls for Muhammad’s resignation after the website Billy Penn found an anti-Semitic post on his Facebook page.
The offensive post included images of actor and rapper Ice Cube, Philadelphia Eagles star DeSean Jackson and TV host Nick Cannon – all three who have recently made anti-Semitic posts – and a man crushing people with his hand with the words: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
You can read: Philadelphia Eagles´ DeSean Jackson apologized for anti-Semitic post
Muhammad had released a previous statement earlier in the week saying it was never his intention to offend anyone. In it he even explained Voltaire´s misquoting he had published. “I later learned that not only was the quote I used misattributed to the philosopher Francois Voltaire, but in fact, the quote and image had been used previously by white supremacists. I immediately removed both the quote and the offensive images. It was never my intention to offend anyone or cause any hurt.”
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