In September 2005, the State Executive Committee of the Independence Party of New York dropped Fulani and other members from the New York City chapter. That was part of a fierce power struggle that brewed between members from Upstate New York and Long Island, and Newman, Fulani, and the other members based in New York City. Most party members were disaffected by the ideology of Newman and Fulani. The party's state chairman, Frank MacKay, a former ally of Fulani, claimed the action to have followed Fulani's refusal to repudiate an earlier statement that many considered to be anti-Semitic. According to "The New York Times", "In 1989, Dr. Fulani wrote that the Jews 'had to sell their souls to acquire Israel' and had to 'function as mass murderers of people of color' to stay there." She refused to disavow these comments in 2005. Fulani said that she did not intend the statement as anti-Semitic but wanted to raise issues that she believed needed to be explored. She has, however, since repudiated the remarks, which she characterized as "excessive" and publicly apologized to "any people who had been hurt by them."