Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas backtracked from a statement in which he accused Israel of carrying out “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians.
Germany and Israel strongly criticized Abbas for making a reference to the Holocaust in the context of well-documented Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
Following an uproar by Israel, after Abbas told a German journalist that the Israeli occupation has committed “50 massacres”, against the Palestinians, the PA President backtracked from his statement.
Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed "50 Holocausts" while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie.
Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including one and a half million Jewish children.
History will never forgive him.
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) August 16, 2022
A German journalist had asked Abbas whether he was ready to apologize to Israel over the Munich attack on the Israeli sports team in 1972. Abbas replied,
“If we want to dig further into the past, yes, please, I have 50 massacres that were committed by Israel.”
While standing beside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Abbas added:
“Fifty massacres, 50 Holocausts, and to this day, every day, we have dead people killed by the Israeli army.”
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted:
“Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed ’50 Holocausts’ while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace but a monstrous lie. History will not forgive him.”
Along with Lapid and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, many other Israeli officials slammed Abbas’ remarks.
In a statement issued by his office in Ramallah, Abbas reaffirmed that the Holocaust “is the most heinous crime in modern human history.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was condemned by Germany's Olaf Scholz follow his visit to Berlin. Abbas accused Israel of committing '50 Holocausts' against Palestinians. Scholz expressed 'disgust' over the comments. https://t.co/jkQ1vQ3xZ2
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) August 17, 2022
He added that his answer “was not intended to deny the singularity of the Holocaust that occurred in the last century.”
The statement stated: “What is meant by the crimes that President Mahmoud Abbas spoke about are the crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinian people since the Nakba at the hands of the Israeli forces. These crimes have not stopped to this day.”
(MEMO, PC, SOCIAL)
