MESOP MIDEAST WATCH HOLOCAUSTING MEMRI Special Dispatch | 10144 | August 17, 2022
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On August 16, 2022, Palestinian Authority (PA) President and Fatah head Mahmoud ‘Abbas met in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as part of an official visit to Germany. At the close of the two leaders’ joint press conference, ‘Abbas was asked if he would to apologize to Israel for the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics, in which 11 members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were murdered by Fatah’s Black September terror organization. ‘Abbas refrained from condemning this attack, and said that, since 1947, Israel has committed “50 massacres” and “50 holocausts” against the Palestinian people, a statement that sparked outrage in Germany, Israel and around the world. For a MEMRI TV clip of ‘Abbas’s statements, click here or below: ‘Abbas has previously denied the scope of the Holocaust. In the introduction to his 1984 book The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism, which is based on his doctoral dissertation, he wrote that “the number of Jewish [Holocaust] victims could be six million but could [also] be far smaller, even less than a million.” Citing Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson, he also questioned whether gas chambers were used to kill Jews, writing: “Regarding the gas chambers, which were supposedly designed for murdering living Jews: A scientific study published by Professor Robert Faurisson of France denies that the gas chambers were for murdering people, and claims that they were only for incinerating bodies, out of concern for the spread of disease and infection in the region.” In a 2018 speech to the Palestinian National Council in Ramallah, ‘Abbas said that the massacres to which European Jews had been subjected from the 11th century until the Holocaust were not because they were Jews, but “because of their function in society, which had to do with usury, banks, and so on.” Moreover, ‘Abbas has awarded medals of honor to individuals who published articles containing antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Following the outrage over ‘Abbas’s statements in Germany, Bakr Abu Bakr, a former member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council and former columnist for the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, published an article in the online daily alwatanvoice.com and on his personal Facebook page in which he justified ‘Abbas’s remarks. He wrote that the Nakba was indeed the Palestinian holocaust and that, since then, Israel has perpetrated additional massacres that can be called “holocausts.” The criticism against ‘Abbas, he added, was nothing but propaganda by Zionist and pro-Zionist forces which exploit the suffering of the Holocaust victims and want the world to ignore the Palestinian holocaust. The following are translated excerpts from Abu Baker’s article. “The opportunistic apparatus that gains benefits from the suffering of the world and from the suffering of the innocent European Jews pulled out its weapons against President Mahmoud ‘Abbas, Abu Mazen, when… he evoked the need to treat all victims equally [and said] that the Arab Muslim victim is no different from the victims of the massacre and Holocaust that the criminal Hitler perpetrated against the German Jews and against others during the European war called the Second World [War]. “The Zionist and pro-Zionist media went crazy trying to present the blood of Jews of every nationality as uniquely noble and sacred! [The idea] that all human blood is equal is not to their liking. When it comes to the ongoing killing of the Palestinians, their approach is to disregard it, draw attention away from it and even support it, especially when the killing and massacre are perpetrated by the Israelis who are occupying Palestine. “The Zionist machine of propaganda, slander and lies – the ‘Holocaust industry’ – wants the world to ignore the Palestinian holocaust, namely the massacres perpetrated against the Palestinians, which number over 50, as Abu Mazen pointed out. He was outraged by the blatant discrimination [against the Palestinians] when he said that there were ’50 massacres, 50 holocausts.’ The purpose of this [Zionist] propaganda is to convince the world that the Palestinian Arabs have no right to describe the Nakba and the massacres [against them] as a holocaust!… “It is a disgrace that, according to the perception of global Zionism, it is permissible to shed Palestinian blood! It is a disgrace that it is considered permissible to shed Arab and Muslim blood… Our brother President Abu Mazen was right when, during [his visit] to Germany, he confronted the pro-Zionist world, which is described as ‘free,’ and said ‘enough’ when he was asked to condemn the Munich operation of 1972. [He was right to say] that, since the Nakba of 1948 – the Palestinian holocaust – the Israelis have perpetrated several [additional] holocausts [in the form of] repeated massacres. Wanting to turn to making peace, he noted that the Zionist regime is a regime of racist discrimination and apartheid.” |