Palestinians condemn German investigation into Abbas' Holocaust remarks

By Nour Abu Eisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Saturday condemned the launch of a police investigation in Germany against President Mahmoud Abbas over his comments that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians.

“The police move reflects a form of double standards, bias to the (Israeli) occupation and disregard of the Palestinian suffering,” group leader Khalid al-Batsh told Anadolu Agency.

He said Abbas’ remarks “are part of Palestinian national narrative to expose the crimes of the Zionist occupation.”

Abbas on Tuesday accused Israel of committing “50 holocausts” against Palestinians during a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"From 1947 until today, Israel committed 50 massacres in 50 villages... 50 slaughters and 50 Holocausts," he said, in response to a question about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich attack, in which several Israeli athletes were killed.

His remarks triggered a storm of criticism from Israeli and German officials, including Scholz who said he was "disgusted by the outrageous remarks" by Abbas.

But Abbas later said his answer “was not intended to deny the singularity of the Holocaust that occurred in the last century, and condemning it in the strongest terms.”

Writing by Ahmed Asmar