Holocaust accusation: Chancellor Scholz is outraged afterwards
Created: 08/18/2022, 10:18 am
By: Catherine Brown
Federal President Steinmeier and Acting Chancellor Merkel sharply criticize Abbas' statement.
The opposition, on the other hand, is more critical of Chancellor Scholz's reaction.
Berlin - Shaking hands instead of intervening: At a press conference with Olaf Scholz, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of multiple "Holocaust".
"Israel has committed 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian locations since 1947 to this day," said Abbas alongside Olaf Scholz in the Chancellery.
And added: "50 massacres, 50 holocausts." The chancellor looked around in irritation, but did not contradict Abbas - and shook his hand.
Scholz late reaction: government spokesman takes responsibility
Because of his reaction, Scholz was heavily criticized, especially by opposition politicians.
Only after the press conference did the chancellor tell
Bild
: "Especially for us Germans, any relativization of the Holocaust is unbearable and unacceptable." Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit finally took responsibility for the chancellor's late reaction.
He himself ended the press conference too quickly – Scholz regrets not having reacted directly to the statements.
In a phone call with Israel's Prime Minister Jair Lapid today, Scholz wants to prevent further irritation.
He called a trip by the Chancellor to Ramallah in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories in the foreseeable future "difficult to imagine".
However, the government will remain in contact with the Palestinians and will not sever relations because of this "terrible scandal".
The Chancellery summoned the head of the Palestinian representation in Berlin.
The chancellor expects Abbas to "unreservedly recognize the singularity of the Holocaust," Hebestreit said.
Holocaust scandal surrounding Palestinian President: Abbas relativizes statement himself
Abbas himself backtracked on his comments.
"President Abbas reiterates that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history," wrote the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Abbas said he did not want to question the uniqueness of the Holocaust in Berlin.
What he meant by his statements was "the crimes and massacres against the Palestinian people committed by Israel's armed forces".
"These crimes have not stopped to this day." The historical background: In 1948, part of the British Mandate of Palestine became Israel.
The Arab neighbors attacked the new state.
In the course of the ensuing fighting, around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled.
Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid criticized: "That Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of having committed '50 holocausts' while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a blatant lie."
Holocaust slogan: Steinmeier and Merkel criticize Abba's statement
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the
Bild
that Abbas' Holocaust comparison was "completely unacceptable".
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel also condemned the statements "in the strongest possible terms," according to a spokeswoman.
The comparison is an unacceptable attempt to put the singularity of German crimes into perspective "or to place the state of Israel directly or indirectly on a par with Germany during the National Socialist era".
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The opposition is targeting Scholz with its criticism: "An incredible process in the Chancellery," said CDU leader Friedrich Merz.
The chancellor should have "clearly contradicted Abbas and asked him to leave the house."
- with material from dpa.
Georg Anastasiadis comments on why this incident shows once again that the chancellor is not in great shape.
