German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday rejected what he said were comments by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that diminished the Holocaust.
Abbas was asked during a visit to Berlin on Tuesday about the upcoming 50th anniversary of an attack by Palestinian militants against Israelis at the Munich Olympics.
Abbas spoke about incidents in which Israelis killed Palestinians since 1947, saying, “Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tantura, Kafr Qasim and many others, 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts.”
Scholz, who was with Abbas when he made the comments at a joint news conference, used a Twitter post Wednesday to say he was “disgusted” by the remarks.
“For us Germans in particular, any relativization of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust,” Scholz posted.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Abbas’ comments were “not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie.”
“Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including one and a half million Jewish children. History will never forgive him,” Lapid tweeted.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Scholz 'Disgusted' by Abbas Comments on Holocaust
- By VOA News
