In a bitter speech against Jews broadcast on Palestinian TV on April 30, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered what he called a "history lesson" in which he claimed that the Holocaust was the fault of the Jews themselves, the Washington Post website reports today (May 2, 2018).
During his 90-minute remarks to the Palestinian lawmakers in Ramallah, Abbas said European Jews' "social function" -- specifically "usury and banking and such" -- was the basis for animosity toward them and led to their mass murder. Abbas claimed his views were supported by Jewish authors, whose books conclude "that animosity toward Jews was not because of their religion, but because of their social activities."
The "history lesson" prompted backlash in and outside of Israel. "With utmost ignorance and brazen gall, he claimed that European Jews were persecuted and murdered not because they were Jews, but because they gave loans with interest," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement that Abbas's "latest diatribe reflects once again the depth and persistency of the anti-Semitic attitudes he harbors."
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