Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' statements about the Holocaust sparked widespread controversy. While the German chancellor and Israeli officials criticized him sharply, Abbas insisted that his recent statements in Germany did not mean to deny the specificity of the Holocaust.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that his recent statements in Germany did not mean to deny the specificity of the Holocaust.
This came in a clarification published by the official Palestinian news agency "Wafa", in response to the statements he made when he was accompanied by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Abbas added: "We reiterate that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history."
He continued, "It was not intended to deny the specificity of the Holocaust, which was committed in the last century, as it is condemned in the strongest terms. Rather, it was meant by the crimes, the massacres committed against the Palestinian people since the Nakba at the hands of the Israeli forces, and these crimes have not stopped to this day."
During a press conference held by Abbas with Schulz in Berlin on Tuesday, and in response to a reporter's question whether he would apologize to Israel on the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli sports mission at the Munich Olympics in 1972, Abbas said that "the Israeli army drops martyrs daily."
He added, "Since 1947, Israel has committed 50 massacres, 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts."
The Holocaust is a term used to describe the campaigns led by the government of Nazi Germany and some of its allies, to persecute and liquidate Jews in Europe during World War II (1939-1945).
Following his statement, Israeli officials launched a campaign of sharp criticism against the Palestinian president.
Transitional Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a tweet on Twitter: "Mahmoud Abbas' accusation against Israel of perpetrating (50 Holocausts) while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a brutal lie."
As for Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, he said in a tweet on Twitter: "The words of Abu Mazen (Abbas) are despicable and false and an attempt to distort and rewrite history."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed his dissatisfaction with Abbas's comments on Wednesday.
"I am disgusted by the scandalous statements made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas," Schulz said in a tweet on Twitter. "For us Germans, relativization about the uniqueness of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable."
Abbas arrived in Germany on Monday for an unspecified official visit.
In a related context, Abbas called on the European Union countries to support Palestine in obtaining full membership in the United Nations.
Abbas warned against losing "the opportunity to realize the idea of a two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)", calling for its protection.
He said: "Here, the European Union countries can contribute to this (protecting the idea of the two-state solution) if the countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine decide to do so."
He continued, "Here we wonder why the European Union countries, which have invested a lot in establishing the institutions of the State of Palestine, do not take this step? Why does the Security Council not adopt the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations? Which, since its recognition as an observer member in 2012, has proven that it is a responsible country."
He said that all that the Palestinian people aspire to is "freedom and independence in a sovereign, democratic state in which all its citizens enjoy justice, equality and equal opportunities, and the state of Palestine will be a full member of the United Nations."
Abbas stated that protecting the two-state solution requires "a cessation of unilateral actions that violate international law and signed agreements, and a cessation of Israeli settlements, settler violence, and murders."
It also requires, according to Abbas, "the cessation of attacks against the people of East Jerusalem and the Christian and Islamic holy sites."
Abbas stressed adherence to "peaceful popular resistance and rejection of violence and terrorism anywhere in the world."