Palestinian leader condemned for Holocaust remarks

The leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has been accused of antisemitism after he claimed Jews were not persecuted for their religion during the Holocaust.

Abbas made the comments in an address delivered last month, but they began to attract widespread criticism on Wednesday after footage of the speech was translated and shared online by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

What did Mahmoud Abbas say?

At a speech to senior members of his Fatah party in Ramallah, Abbas claimed that it was "not true" that "[Adolf] Hitler killed the Jews because they were Jews."

Abbas also repeated antisemitic tropes by falsely claiming that Germany "fought [Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion. Because of usury and money."

Around 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust.

Hitler considered Jews to be an inferior race. He viciously promoted antisemitism as the Third Reich carried out genocide against the Jews of Europe.

World condemns Abbas' remarks

Israel's Foreign Ministry shared footage of the speech on social media on Wednesday, accusing Abbas of "Holocaust denial."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the European Union said the Palestinian leader's speech "contained false and grossly misleading remarks about Jews and antisemitism" which are "an insult to the millions of victims of the Holocaust and their families."

"Such historical distortions are inflammatory, deeply offensive" and "trivialize [the] Holocaust and thereby fuel antisemitism", the EU spokesperson added.

Germany also condemned Abbas' remarks about the Holocaust.

The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, said that the Palestinian people "deserve to hear the historical truth from their leader, not such distortions."

Germany's mission in Ramallah, where Abbas' Palestinian Authority is based, also "strongly" condemned his remarks.

"History is clear: millions of lives were erased — this cannot be relativized," Germany's mission in Ramallah said late on Wednesday.

The US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, also slammed Abbas' "hateful, antisemitic remarks."

She called for an immediate apology.

The French consulate in Jerusalem also called the remarks "totally unacceptable" on Thursday and said it rejects "antisemitism and [Holocaust] denial in all forms."

Palestinian Authority walks back comments

Abbas's office later issued a statement saying that "the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history."

His spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the "rabid campaign" against the Palestinian president.

He said Abbas' position is "clear and documented, which is the complete condemnation of the Holocaust and the rejection of antisemitism."

There have been several past instances where Abbas has been condemned for relativizing, downplaying or misrepresenting the facts of the Holocaust, including during a visit to Berlin last year.

zc/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP)