After anti-Semitic posts, NFL star DeSean Jackson speaks with Holocaust survivor
Receiver says he is ‘bridging the gap between different cultures, communities and religions’; Philadelphia Eagles announces player has been punished for offensive quotes
Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson said Friday he spoke with a Holocaust survivor as part of his continuing education after posting anti-Semitic quotes online earlier in the week.
“Thank you Mr. Mosberg for your valuable time and insight today. I’m taking this time to continue with educating myself and bridging the gap between different cultures, communities & religions,” Jackson wrote on Instagram.
Edward Mosberg, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, had written an open letter inviting Jackson to tour the Auschwitz concentration camp with him.
Jackson had posted a screenshot of a quote widely attributed to Adolf Hitler, saying in part: “Jews will blackmail America.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCesthClcUn/
In another post, Jackson showed support for Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who is known for anti-Semitic rhetoric.
His team, the Philadelphia Eagles, announced Friday that Jackson had been punished for “conduct detrimental to the team.” The team said that Jackson had “accepted those consequences.”
There were no further details given on the punishment.
“My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community,” Jackson said in a video he posted on Instagram on Tuesday. “I post things on my story all the time, and just probably never should have posted anything Hitler did, because Hitler was a bad person, and I know that.”
He also wrote in a post on Tuesday evening: “I unintentionally hurt the Jewish community… and for that I am sorry.”
“I will fully educate myself and work with local and national organizations to be more informed and make a difference in our community,” he wrote.
Jackson has over 1.4 million followers on the network. The inflammatory posts were part of his “story” on the platform, meaning they were temporary posts that disappear after 24 hours, and are no longer visible.
One of the two Hitler quotes posted by Jackson Monday accused “white Jews” of having a “plan for world domination.” The quotes are said to be Hitler’s justification for the mass murder of Jews in Europe.
The Snopes website reported that the quote is not actually attributable to Hitler and appears to have first been published on a “clickbait web site” called FMLGoneViral.com in 2015.
That post also said: “Hitler said, ‘because the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas secret the Jews will blackmail America… The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.’”
Jackson later added to one of the posts: “Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way. I have no hatred in my heart toward no one!! Equality. Equality [raised fist emojis].”
Last Saturday, he posted a now-removed photo of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivering his three-hour Fourth of July address in which Farrakhan, who has called Jews “termites” and denounced the “Synagogue of Satan,” repeated canards about Jews.
Jackson wrote: “This man powerful I hope everyone got a chance to watch this!! Don’t be blinded. Know what’s going on!!”
The Times of Israel Community.