On Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas caused a lot of anger in Germany during a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In answer to a question from the press as to whether Abbas would apologize for the PLO attack in the 1972 Munich Olympics in which the entire Israeli team was murdered, Abbas accused Israel of committing "50 Holocausts". Before Scholz could respond, his press secretary announced the closure of the press conference since that had been announced as the final question.
Scholz has since issued angry responses to Abbas's use of the team Holocaust to accuse Israel of committing similar crimes. Others in Germany have also condemned the remarks by Abbas.
Clearly, this is a sensitive subject in Germany since the country was primarily responsible for the Holocaust under Hitler. Germany is still trying to build better relationships with Jews everywhere, and it is considered especially offensive for Abbas to use his German visit to compare Israelis to those who carried out the Holocaust.
While I applaud the reaction of Scholz to the words of Abbas, I think he should have made it a point to respond to Abbas before exiting the stage. I also question why Germany would invite a man like Abbas to visit their country. This is a man who applauds terrorist attacks against Israelis and pays support money to the families of jailed or dead terrorists. Why was he invited in the first place? In that sense, the German government deserves the heat. They should have been prepared for such statements by Abbas.
The below article from today's Deutsche Welle is translated by Fousesquawk.
Middle East conflict
Palestinian president Abbas angers in Berlin with Holocaust comparison
After a meeting with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Palestinian head, Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of a "Holocaust" and with that, unleashed heavy criticism. The term "apartheid" was also mentioned at the press conference.
Caption: Far apart also emotionally: Palestinian head Abbas and Federal Chancellor Scholz
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees no "apartheid" in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. After a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin, Scholz said he didn't want to use this term. (Abbas) had previously spoken about "apartheid" and raised serious accusations against Israel. Abbas demanded that the EU and UN fully recognize the Palestinian state.
Currently, the Palestinians only have observer status at the UN. However, Scholz rejected Abbas' demand. Germany continues to support a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, he said. This is "not the time to change anything".
Abbas expressed disappointment that after the visit of US President Joe Biden, the US had also made no steps for a new Middle East initiative. "We are still awaiting today that practical steps follow words," he said with a view toward Biden, who had also spoken in favor of a two-state solution.
Abbas accuses Israel of "Holocaust"
Abbas caused serious irritation when he accused Israel of a "Holocaust" against the Palestinians. Israel has "committed 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts" against the Palestinians. Scholz followed the statements visibly angered and with a stone expression, and he was prepared to reply. His spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit declared the press conference over immediately after Abbas' answer. The question to the Palestinian president had already been announced as the last. Hebestreit later reported that Scholz was angered by the Abbas statement.
Deutsche Welle correspondent Nina Haase, who was present at the press conference, analyzed the incident this way: "Scholz didn't look good here. But it is also unclear whether Abbas did his cause any good by knowingly provoking the German Chancellor in this manner. It could affect the future support readiness of Scholz."
Scholz: Unbearable and unacceptable
Later, Chancellor Scholz rejected the Holocaust accusation against Israel by the Palestinian president in clear words. "Especially for us Germans, any comparison to the Holocaust is unbearable and unacceptable," Scholz told Bild-Zeitung. He expressed similar words in a tweet:
(Tweet) from federal chancellor Olaf Scholz:
"I am deeply outraged by the unspeakable words of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Especially for us Germans, any comparison to the Holocaust is unbearable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust."
Criticism also came from the Federal Government's commissioner for anti-Semitism, Felix Klein. "Through his Holocaust comparison, President Abbas has shown a lack of sensitivity for Us, his German hosts," Klein said to the Germany Editorial Network: "That especially applies in view of the question posed about the Olympics attack that was carried out by PLO-terrorists."
The new German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, criticized the Holocaust comparison by Abbas as false and unacceptable. "Germany will never tolerate any attempt to deny the uniqueness of the crimes of the Holocaust," the former government spokesman wrote on Twitter.
Sharp criticism from the International Auschwitz Committee
The International Auschwitz Committee accused Abbas of deliberately using Berlin's political stage to defame "German remembrance culture and relations with Israel". Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner made a corresponding statement: "With his shameful and inappropriate Holocaust comparison, Abbas has again tried to serve anti-Semitic aggression in Germany and Europe." Heubener also directed criticism to the federal government: "It is astounding and strange that the German side was not prepared, and Abbas' provocations and statements about the Holocaust in the press conference remained uncontradicted."
Angry reactions in Israel
Meanwhile, the Israeli government also sharply rejected the Holocaust comparison. That Abbas accused Israel of "committing 50 Holocausts while he was on German soil is not only a moral shame but also a monstrous lie," explained the Israeli government head Jair Lapid. "History will never forgive him."
Caption: Israeli Minister President Jair Lapid; "Not only a moral shame but also a monstrous lie."
The Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, condemned the statements of the Palestinian president as well. Whoever wants peace, "should not distort the truth and re-write history," the minister warned. The president of the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan, condemned Abbas's statements as "terrifying". "The German government, in the Federal Chancellery, must directly react in appropriate ways to this inexcusable behavior," Dayna demanded.
4 comments:
I hate when this sort of a thing happens. For the record, I agree that it is not a Holocaust. I also don't think that it's a genocide either, as some people suggest.
I do think that there are some serious problems with the policies of the Israeli government, and there is a lot of pro-Israel propaganda that sweeps much of it under the rug while solely focusing on the problems with the Palestinians.
The problem with this sort of a thing is that it becomes an argument about what words mean and the actual, concrete issues get lost in the shuffle.
Since the creation of Israel, the "Palestinian" Arab population has tripled. So much for Holocaust to genocide.
The pro-Palestinian movement has done one thing masterfully. That is propaganda in convincing so much of the West that Israel is oppressing the Arabs.
I don't disagree. However, I would say that Israel, along with its allies here, has done quite the job of spreading their own propaganda and making the other half of people in the West believe that Israel has done no wrong.
On the other hand, I think Israel has not done a good job of getting its positions across to the international community. One example is how Israel is portrayed as a country whose Jewish citizens are basically just white Ashkenazi transplants from Europe. Most are of Middle East and Sephardic origin.
Post a Comment