Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has come under preliminary investigation over his comments that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians.
It was reported that the remarks, during a news conference in Berlin alongside German chancellor Olaf Scholz, sparked outrage in Germany, Israel and beyond.
During the recent press conference, Abbas reportedly refused to condemn a deadly attack by Palestinian militants on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Rather, he countered by saying he could point to “50 Holocausts” by Israel.
In a swift reaction, Berlin Police has averred that Abbas is being investigated for possible incitement to hatred after the force received a formal criminal complaint.
It was clarified that downplaying the Holocaust is a criminal offence in Germany, but the opening of a preliminary inquiry does not automatically entail a full investigation.
In a statement, Germany’s foreign ministry said Abbas – as a representative of the Palestinian Authority – would enjoy immunity from prosecution because he was visiting the country in an official capacity.
Reports have it that Germany does not recognise the Palestinian Territories as a sovereign state.
Scholz said he was “disgusted by the outrageous remarks” at the press conference.
In a statement on Twitter, he added that: “For us Germans in particular, any relativisation of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust.”
Meanwhile, Scholz was criticized both in Germany and Israel for not rejecting the comments immediately at the press conference at the Chancellery.
It’s imperative to note that Germany has long argued the term “Holocaust” should only be used to describe the Nazis’ singular crime of killing six million Jews before and during World War II.
In a more recent statement, Abbas office said “president Mahmoud Abbas reaffirms that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history.”
It added that “his answer was not intended to deny the singularity of the Holocaust that occurred in the last century, and condemning it in the strongest terms.”
