HALIFAX – An election candidate criticized by the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs for “troubling” and “damaging” social media posts is no longer running for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party in the Nov. 26 general election , declared the party.

In a statement released Saturday, the provincial NDP said Tammy Jakeman is no longer the party’s candidate in the riding of Eastern Passage, south of Halifax.

“New Democrats are committed to ensuring the safety and dignity of all members of the Jewish community and Nova Scotians of all faiths,” the statement said. “We recognize that anyone running for office has a responsibility to ensure that their comments do not cause undue harm. »

The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued a press release Friday containing photos of two posts from an account bearing Jakeman’s name on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

One, from November 2023, responds to a message from the Auschwitz Memorial on World Children’s Day by saying that children in Gaza will die because “Israel is obsessed with killing all of Hamas, whatever the human costs.” In another, also from 2023, the same Jakeman account retweets a message that read: “Israeli apartheid is at its best when it terrorizes Palestinians.”

On Saturday afternoon, the account appeared to no longer exist on the platform. Jakeman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Center for Jewish and Israel Affairs and the Atlantic Jewish Council called the statements “inflammatory” and “hurtful” in Friday’s statement.

“Statements of this nature often have concrete impacts, contributing to the climate of fear and hostility felt by members of the Jewish community,” the statement said.

The groups called on NDP provincial leader Claudia Chender to explain why Jakeman was allowed to run for the party and to disassociate the party from Jakeman’s “harmful remarks.”

NDP spokesperson Alana Cahill said the party was not aware of the positions during the candidate nomination period. Cahill said Jakeman posted an apology for the remarks on his X account on Friday, although The Canadian Press could not verify the claim because the account appeared to have been deleted.

The NDP “constantly reviews and improves our selection process to ensure that it is rigorous and that all of our candidates uphold the values ​​and principles of our party,” Cahill said in an email.

Jakeman’s departure from the party comes after the close of the candidate nomination period, so there will be no NDP candidate to replace her in Eastern Passage, Cahill added.

It is unclear whether Jakeman will run as an independent.