Fulani backs off her anti-Jewish remarks

Fulani backs off her anti-Jewish remarks

New York Post/August 10, 2007
By Dan Kadison

Independence Party activist Lenora Fulani yesterday renounced for the first time her past anti-Semitic rhetoric as she declared she's considering a run for mayor.

Fulani had previously refused to disavow her 1989 statement that "Jews had to sell their souls to acquire Israel" and had to "function as mass murderers of people of color."

Other statements she's made over the years, including saying in 2001 that U.S. foreign policy played a role in the 9/11 terror attacks, have drawn criticism, though she hasn't backed off them.

But at a press conference on the City Hall steps yesterday, Fulani said, "My comments reflected my feelings about the situation during that time. I felt it important to stand up for the people I thought were singularly oppressed.

"The language I used was harsh and today I would call it excessive," she added, insisting she "never intended to express anything demeaning or derogatory to Jewish people here or in Israel . . . I do not view Israel as an aggressor."

"In light of that, I am repudiating my remarks of 18 years ago," she said.