VICTORIA—A Liberal candidate in British Columbia who allegedly referred to mosques as “brainwashing stations” on social media has withdrawn her candidacy.

Cheryl Thomas was running in the riding of Victoria, but resigned Wednesday after contentious Facebook posts surfaced.

Thomas apologized for past social media comments in a statement, saying they were offensive and have no place in political discourse.

She addressed the apology to members of the Jewish and Muslim communities in particular, adding that she has the utmost respect for all religions, but did not specify for which past comments she was apologizing.

True North Times, a satirical news site, posted screen shots Wednesday of Facebook posts that it said were written by Thomas.

Thomas shared an article on July 22, 2013, about a letter sent by the Taliban to Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel-winning teenager shot by Taliban fighters in Pakistan for advocating for girls’ education.

“Yes, hundreds of years ago the mosques were used as gathering places for education. Unfortunately, now the mosques are used as brainwashing stations, desecrating the holy places,” Thomas wrote.

In a comment dated July 10, 2014, which the Star could not find on her Facebook page Thursday but was posted by True North Times, Thomas criticized Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

“The oppressed of the Warsaw ghettoes and the concentration camps have become the oppressors, keeping the Palestinians who are left in their ‘homeland’ in ghettos,” she allegedly wrote.

In another post, which the Star could no longer find on Thomas’ page, she also wrote: “Santa has to be white!!! You can’t have a brown guy with a beard sneaking into your house in the middle of the night! You’d be calling the bomb squad!”

The deadline for withdrawing candidates has already passed, meaning Thomas’ name will still appear on the ballot.

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Another Liberal candidate on Vancouver Island resigned earlier this week over a Facebook post questioning the origins of the 9-11 attacks.

Maria Manna was running in the Victoria-area riding of Cowichan Malahat Langford, but stepped down Monday.

With files from Star staff

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