Abbas faces outcry in Germany, Israel after Berlin remarks on Holocaust

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, speaks during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right,  in Berlin, August 16, 2022. (AP)

BERLIN, Germany-

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s remarks accusing Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians over years of occupation have sparked an outcry in Germany and Israel

At a joint press conference with Scholz on Tuesday, in Berlin, Abbas, 87, was asked if he would apologise on behalf of the Palestinian gunmen who carried out the Munich Olympics hostage-taking in 1972 that ended with 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed.

In his response, Abbas referred to a series of historical incidents in which Palestinians were killed by Israelis in the 1948 war that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel and in the years following.

"From 1947 to the present day, Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tantura, Kafr Qasim and many others, 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts," he said.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa did not include the Holocaust comments in its report of the meeting with Scholz.

A day later the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz virulently reacted.

"I am disgusted by the outrageous remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmud #Abbas," he wrote on Twitter.

"For us Germans in particular, any relativisation of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust."

Scholz himself also drew fire for failing to immediately condemn Abbas' remarks at the press conference, which ended following the Palestinian leader's statements.

"One would have liked (Scholz's) clarification to be more immediate," wrote Spiegel magazine.

Christoph Heubner, executive vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee said he found it "astonishing and disconcerting that the German side was not prepared for Abbas' provocations and that his statements on the Holocaust were left unchallenged at the press conference."

In comparison, Scholz had directly contradicted Abbas when he used the word "apartheid" while describing the treatment of Palestinians by Israel.

The German leader replied directly that he wanted to "say clearly that he won't use the word apartheid" and that he did "not think that is correct to use the term to describe the situation".

The Palestinian president’s remarks came a few weeks before the planned commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Munich attack, in which Palestinian militants killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Relatives of the slain Israeli athletes said they plan to boycott the ceremony after failing to reach an agreement on bigger compensation from the German government.

Reactions in Israel

Abbas' comment followed months of tension and a brief conflict this month during which 49 people were killed in Gaza after Israel carried out a series of air strikes in response to what it said was an imminent threat from the militant Islamic Jihad group, which fired over 1,000 rockets in response.

Dozens of Palestinians have also been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, while there have been a number of attacks on Israelis, including an incident on Sunday when eight people were wounded on a bus carrying Jewish worshippers in Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, Abbas' remarks drew a hail of condemnation.

"Mahmud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed '50 Holocausts' while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie," wrote Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Twitter.

"Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including one and a half million Jewish children. History will never forgive him."

The Palestinian foreign ministry said Lapid's comments were intended to divert attention from Israel's "crimes".

In a statement, the ministry said "the occupying power is not satisfied with committing these crimes on a daily and continuous basis, but also does not tolerate and rejects any talk or statements that remind the Israelis and the international community of the many crimes committed by Israel".

Defence Minister Benny Gantz called the Palestinian leader's remarks as "an attempt to distort and rewrite history".

Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan described Abbas' words as "appalling".

He added that the German government "must respond appropriately to this inexcusable behaviour done inside the Federal Chancellery".