The European Union on Thursday, September 7, strongly criticized remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, characterizing them as “highly inaccurate” and asserting that his claim suggesting that Jews were targeted in the Holocaust due to their “social role” rather than their religion was misleading and unacceptable.
The European Union condemned on Thursday “grossly misleading” comments by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas claiming Jews were murdered in the Holocaust because of their “social role” and not religion.
Abbas made the remarks during a speech late last month before senior members of his Fatah party in Ramallah, and a video of the event surfaced this week, triggering harsh criticism from European nations.
Abbas, 87, who has previously made similar comments downplaying the systematic killing of Jewish people during World War II, said it was “not true” that “(Adolf) Hitler killed the Jews because they were Jews”.
Echoing anti-Semitic tropes, he claimed Europeans “fought (the Jews) because of their social role, and not their religion. Because of usury and money”.
The Israeli foreign ministry on Wednesday posted a video of the speech on X, formerly Twitter, accusing the Palestinian leader of “Holocaust denial”.
Germany’s mission in Ramallah, the seat of Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, said it “strongly” condemns his statements.
The French consulate in Jerusalem on Thursday called the remarks “totally unacceptable”, stressing over social media its rejection “of anti-Semitism and (Holocaust) denial in all forms”.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
