There is international outrage following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ accusation that Israel has committed “50 Holocausts.” Abbas was speaking in Berlin when he was asked whether he would publicly condemn the 1972 Olympic massacre that occurred in Munich at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. A faction of Abbas’ Fatah party took Israeli athletes hostage and left 11 dead.
It is the 50th anniversary of the attacks this year.
As Abbas stood next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he said, “From 1947 to the present day, Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities. 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts, and until today, and every day there are casualties killed by the Israeli military.”
While no one outwardly reacted to the comments, Scholz took to Twitter and voiced his disdain for the comment.
His translated statement reads:
“I am deeply outraged by the unspeakable statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud #Abbas . For us Germans in particular, any relativisation of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust.”
A Palestinian news outlet reported that Abbas, who has remained President since 2006 without holding any election for a successor, retracted his comments, affirming “that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history.”
Abbas is no stranger to controversial and antisemitic rhetoric regarding the Holocaust. In 2018, he blamed the Holocaust on Jewish “social behavior,” referring to banking practices. He has also extensively denied the Holocaust and the accuracy of Holocaust deaths and accused Zionists of working with Nazis.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) has not commented on Abbas’ statement. An outspoken critic of Israel, Tlaib regularly responds to controversies in the region.
She had spoken up against President Abbas in the past but only when he arrested several protestors demonstrating dissent against his government.
Tlaib quickly condemned the arrests and referred to Israel as apartheid. “Shame on you for suppressing Palestinian voices who are trying to seek liberation from not only the Israeli apartheid government but from your corrupt leadership.”
Dear President Mahmoud Abbas,
This is NOT how you protect and serve the Palestinian people. Shame on you for suppressing Palestinian voices who are trying to seek liberation from not only the Israeli apartheid government, but from your corrupt leadership. https://t.co/xMwCn73r0I
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 23, 2021
Tlaib was also vocal about the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Yet, she did not comment on the shooting attack near the Western Wall, which injured eight people, including 5 Americans.
