“From 1947 to the present Israel committed 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tandoor, Kafr Qasim and many others. 50 massacres, 50 holocausts. To this day, we have daily deaths from the Israeli army. Our demand: Stop! Enough! Let’s find peace! We will wait, to safety, to stability!”

This was stated by the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor. Olaf Soltz in Berlin, provoked a fierce reaction in recent hours from the opposition and the media, who criticize mainly the fact that Mr. Scholz did not answer during the interview, but also from the chancellor himself, who later expressed his annoyance.

As part of a joint press conference, the Palestinian leader was asked if he intended to apologize to Israel and Germany on behalf of the Palestinians for the Black September attack on the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

“If we want to keep digging into the past, yes please! I have 50 Israeli massacres that have been recorded in documentaries: the massacre at Tandoor in 1948, at Kafr Qasim in 1956,” said Mahmoud Abbas, insisting that trust must be built between the two sides because “that will was far away”. better than any words.”

Government spokesman Stephen Hebstrait, as is customary in the office, after four questions, thanked the journalists present, and both leaders left the press conference venue, and Mr. Soltz did not comment on his guest’s statements. The Chancellor, visibly annoyed, hurriedly shook hands with Mr. Abbas and moved ahead of his guest, which is unusual.

“Before the chancellor could refute this outrageous proposal, a government spokesman had already finished moderating the press conference – as is usually done after the last question/answer – which apparently annoyed Mr Soltz. The government spokesman then told the reporters, who were still in the room, and they certainly could not help but notice the Chancellor’s annoyance, how angry Mr. Soltz was at this statement and at the fact that he had no opportunity to disagree . publicly,” a spokesman for the chancellor told Bild newspaper.

Later, Mr. Scholz himself told the newspaper: “Especially for us Germans, any turning of the Holocaust into banality is unacceptable and unacceptable.”

Bild: “Scandal about anti-Semitism in the office”

German Ambassador to Israel (and former government spokesman) Steffen Seibert, for his part, stressed via Twitter that “what President Abbas said in Berlin about the ’50 Holocausts’ is wrong and unacceptable.” Germany will not tolerate any attempt to deny the uniqueness of the crimes of the Holocaust.”

Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz also said via Twitter that Olaf Soltz should have refuted the Palestinian president’s statements and asked him to step down as chancellor.

His predecessor, Armin Lasset, overdid it, citing “the most disgusting statement ever heard in the office”.

Bild referred to the “anti-Semitic scandal in the Chancellery” in an editorial commentary, denouncing the Chancellor’s stance. “Even students are told not to be silent when someone denies the Holocaust,” the newspaper emphasizes.

“Abbas accuses Israel of the Holocaust – Scholz is silent,” Der Spiegel magazine commented.

But even before the controversial issue, during a press conference, the very different approaches of the two leaders became apparent.

Mr. Scholz criticized Mr. Abbas’ statement about Israel’s “apartheid” regime, saying that he did not accept the term and did not believe it accurately described the situation, while opposing full UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian leader called on the European Union and the United Nations to fully recognize the Palestinian state, with the chancellor repeatedly emphasizing that “Germany continues to support the agreed two-state solution along the 1967 borders”, while at the same time rejecting the request. for full recognition by the UN, where the Palestinians currently have observer status. “Now is not the time to change that,” Mr. Soltz insisted.

Mr. Abbas assured, among other things, that the Palestinian Authority “totally rejects terrorism and violence anywhere in the world”, pointing out that the Palestinians, “although we are under attack, we insist on peaceful resistance.”

He spoke of the 77-year occupation of Palestine and pleaded for the two-state solution to be defended, while assuring that he was committed to organizing parliamentary and presidential elections, which, however, he complained that Israel was blocking. At the same time, Mr. Scholz noted that “if you live in a country like Germany, where elections are held every four years, then you think that some time has probably passed since 2006 and elections could be held again “.

Mr. Abbas also expressed disappointment that no peace initiatives were taken during US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the region, but promised that the Palestinian side would not take unilateral action.

“There are 700 resolutions of the UN General Assembly and another 90 of the Security Council. I would like all states, but especially the US, to implement some of these resolutions. I would be glad if the resolution was implemented,” said the President of the Palestinian Authority.

^{Source: APE-MEB}