German police have opened an investigation into Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, following Abbas’ statement that Israel commits “holocausts” against Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs.
According to the report, Abbas is now being investigated on suspicion of Holocaust denial.
The investigation is still in its initial stages, and Berlin police are examining whether Abbas incited to hatred when he accused Israel of committing “50 holocausts” against PA Arabs.
Holocaust denial is a criminal offense in Germany.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has clarified that Abbas cannot be tried in court, since he visited Germany in an official role.
Abbas made his statements during a Tuesday speech in Berlin, alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who condemned the statements.
Responding to a question regarding the Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games by Palestinian Arab terrorists, Abbas dismissed a question over whether he would apologize for the massacre, saying: “I have 50 slaughters that Israel committed….50 massacres, 50 slaughters, 50 holocausts.”
Scholz scowled, visibly upset at Abbas’ remarks. He did not respond at the time, but later said that hearing the word from Abbas was “unbearable.”
A spokesman for Scholz told BILD: “Before the Chancellor could contradict this outrageous sentence, the government spokesman had already moderated the press conference — as usual after the last question/answer block — which visibly annoyed Scholz.”
“The government spokesman then told the journalists who were still present, who could not help noticing the Chancellor’s annoyance, how outraged the Chancellor was about the statement and also that he had not had the opportunity to openly contradict Abbas.”
Scholz himself went on to tell BILD: “Especially for us Germans, any relativization of the Holocaust is unbearable and unacceptable.”
During their meeting, Scholz also contradicted Abbas after the latter accused Israel of apartheid.
