EU slams Mahmoud Abbas ‘false and grossly misleading’ remarks on Jews and anti-Semitism

In his speech, Mahmoud Abbas (above) declared: "Adolf Hitler fought the Jews due to their “dealing with usury and money”.

In a speech, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas declared: ‘’Adolf Hitler fought the Jews due to their dealing with usury and money,” writes Yossi Lempkowicz.

In a statement, the  European Union said it ‘’remains committed to combating antisemitism and racism in all its forms and will continue to strongly oppose any attempt to condone, justify or trivialise the Holocaust.’’

"The speech delivered by President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to Fatah’s 11th Revolutionary Council in late August contained false and grossly misleading remarks about Jews and anti-Semitism,’’ the European Union said on Thursday (7 September) in a statement.

In his speech, Abbas declared: "Adolf Hitler fought the Jews due to their “dealing with usury and money".

He made this claim in a 24 Aug. 24 speech, per a recent translation from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “They say that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews. Not true,” the PA laeder said. He stated that Europeans fought Jews “because of their social role and not their religion”.

Abbas also repeated the so-called “Khazar Myth” that he has peddled often over the years, stating that Ashkenazi Jews descend from Turkish Khazars who converted, rather than biblical Israelites.

“The truth that we should clarify to the world is that European Jews are not Semites. They have nothing to do with Semitism,” he said.

"Such historical distortions are inflammatory, deeply offensive, can only serve to exacerbate tensions in the region and serve no-one’s interests. They play into the hands of those who do not want a two-state solution, which President Abbas has repeatedly advocated for," an EU spokesperson said.

"Moreover, they trivialize Holocaust and thereby fuel anti-Semitism and are an insult to the millions of victims of the Holocaust and their families,’’ he added.

"The European Union remains committed to combating antisemitism and racism in all its forms and will continue to strongly oppose any attempt to condone, justify or trivialize the Holocaust," the statement said.

“This is the true face of Palestinian ‘leadership,’” wrote Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, of Abbas speech. “It is no wonder that mere hours ago, a Palestinian teenage terrorist hacked innocent Israelis with a meat cleaver in Jerusalem.”

“Just as Abbas blames the Jews for the Holocaust, he also blames the Jews for all the Middle East’s issues,” Erdan added.

“This type of ‘leadership’ only breeds violence, not progress,” stated the American Jewish Committee. “World leaders committed to peace in that region must stop giving Abbas a free pass and condemn his hateful rhetoric.”

Abbas, whose doctoral dissertation denied the Holocaust, has also infamously accused Israel of “50 Holocausts”.

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