German rapper wipes Israel off the map on Twitter

Bushido, a well-known German rap star, has caused outrage for posting on his Twitter account a map entitled 'Free Palestine' on which Israel was nowhere to be seen. The 24-year-old updated his Twitter profile picture on Friday with map of Israel and the Palestinian territories as one country, filled entirely with the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Bushido, who was born as Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi to a Tunisian father and a German mother, has more than 285,000 followers on Twitter. He has not explained what he meant by posting the map, which is used as propaganda by Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations who deny Israel's right to exist.

German politicians were quick to condemn the rapper, who despite efforts to distance himself from his former bad boy image in recent months also insulted gays and women with offensive comments. Germany's Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Bushido's Twitter posting was sowing hatred, and Israel's Embassy in Berlin tweeted: "First women, then gays - we are proud to be one of the victims of the integration prize winner Bushido." The rapper was honored with a 'Bambi' prize in 2011 for being a role model for integration in German society. In another tweet over the weekend, he offered that 'Bambi' for sale to the highest bidder.