“When they said that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews, and that Europe hates the Jews because they were Jews, no. It’s because of their social role.”
By World Israel News Staff
The U.S. and EU on Thursday debounced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s “hateful” remarks questioning the ancestry of Ashkenazi Jews and Adolf Hitler’s motivations, saying it fostered antisemitism and disgraced the memory of victims of the Holocaust.
The Biden administration’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, reproached Abbas for the “hateful, antisemitic remarks” during his speech last month to the Revolutionary Council of his ruling Fatah party, while the EU called his comments “false and grossly misleading.”
“The speech maligned the Jewish people, distorted the Holocaust, and misrepresented the tragic exodus of Jews from Arab countries,” Lipstadt noted on X.
“I condemn these statements and urge an immediate apology,” she added.
Abbas, in his speech, revisited several antisemitic narratives he had mentioned in the past, including an assertion that Adolf Hitler persecuted Jews because of their “social role” related to financial dealings, and not because of his Jew-hatred.
“This has been explained by many Jewish authors,” Abbas said. “When they said that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews, and that Europe hates the Jews because they were Jews, no. It was clearly explained that they fought [the Jews] because of their social role and not their religion.”
The EU responded: “The historical distortions included in the speech are provocative, deeply offensive, and foster tensions in the region, benefiting no one.”
“These distortions facilitate the efforts of those opposing a two-state solution, a solution that Abbas himself has frequently supported.
“They downplay the Holocaust, thus encouraging antisemitism, and insult the numerous Holocaust victims and their families,” the EU added in its reprimand.
Abbas referred to a rejected theory, suggesting Ashkenazi Jews are descendants of an ancient Turkish group called the Khazars, who allegedly converted to Judaism in large numbers. He emphasized that Ashkenazi Jews have no Semitic heritage.
“They are not Semites,” Abbas maintained. “Hence their discussions on Semitism and antisemitism are invalid, at least concerning the Ashkenazi Jews.”
In a 2018 address, Abbas, whose doctoral dissertation was a credo of Holocaust denial, suggested the “social behavior” of Jews led to the Holocaust.
“Jews faced opposition not for their religious beliefs but for their roles in society, associated with finance and other matters,” he said.
He reiterated a slanderous narrative that Hitler, a sergeant during World War I, harbored resentment against Jews for engaging in financial activities he viewed as subversive.
“Highlighting that this was not about Semitism and antisemitism, it was important to understand that Hitler opposed them for their financial practices,” he specified, adding that, in his perspective, Jews from the broader Middle East region are indeed Semites.
Abbas blamed the United States and the United Kingdom for the creation of Israel, citing their endorsement of the Balfour Declaration, which expressed support for a Jewish “national home” in the Land of Israel.
“It was not just the UK; the US was involved in Israel’s formation,” he claimed. “They are the ones to be held responsible for the adversities we face, for relinquishing our homeland to the Israelis or the Jews.”
Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, slammed the remarks, saying they exposed “the true nature of the Palestinian ‘leadership.’”
“Abbas not only attributes the Holocaust to Jews but also holds them responsible for the turmoil in the Middle East,” he wrote on X.
Erdan urged the international community to reprimand the octogenarian leader and maintain “zero tolerance for Palestinian incitement and terror.”
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, demanded global leaders to explicitly reject Abbas’s “despicable comments” which “must not be tolerated.”
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