USA vil tage præsident Mahmoud Abbas (82) antisemitiske udtalelser op i Sikkerhedsrådet. Abbas forsøgte fredag at bede om undskyldning. Hans pressetalsmand Saed Erekat lagde skylden på israelerne og sagde det var dem som havde forvrænget indholdet.

Prior to his apology Friday, his senior aide Saeb Erekat sought to claim his words had been distorted by Israel.

Nikki Haley har forfattet fordømmelsen som må ryste palæstinenserne.

The proposed statement would express the council’s “serious concern” about Abbas’ remarks, which “included vile anti-Semitic slurs and baseless conspiracy theories, and do not serve the interests of the Palestinian people or peace in the Middle East.”

De antisemitiske udfald var ikke med i det engelske referat af talen. Men talen gik live på radio, så der var mange, der hørte den. Flere hundrede medlemmer af Nationalrådet hørte Abbas sige, at jøderne ikke havde nogen historiske rødder i Palæstina.

Abbas touched on a number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories during what he called a “history lesson,” as he sought to prove the 3,000-year-old Jewish connection to the Land of Israel is false.

He said, “Their narrative about coming to this country because of their longing for Zion, or whatever — we’re tired of hearing this. The truth is that this is a colonialist enterprise, aimed at planting a foreign body in this region.”

“Those who sought a Jewish state weren’t Jews,” Abbas said, repeating a claim he made in January when he said that the State of Israel was formed as “a colonial project that has nothing to do with Judaism” to safeguard European interests.

“From the 11th century until the Holocaust that took place in Germany, those Jews — who moved to Western and Eastern Europe — were subjected to a massacre every 10 to 15 years,” he said. “But why did this happen? They say ‘it is because we are Jews.’”

The “proof” that it was not because they were Jews, he asserted, “is that there were Jews in Arab countries. Why wasn’t there ever one incident against Jews because they’re Jews?” he asked. “Not even once. Do you think I’m exaggerating? I challenge you [to find] even one indecent act against Jews in over 1,400 years — because they were Jews in Arab lands.”

Ikke nok med at Abbas lagde skylden på jøderne for at de blev forfulgt, han påstod også at der ikke var pogromer i den arabiske verden. Det er selvsagt løgn.

Talen var så ”over the top” at Abbas fik på puklen, ikke bare af jødiske og amerikanske organisationer, men også af sine “venner” som EU og FN.

The New York Times called for Abbas’s resignation in an editorial Wednesday.

The United Nations envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, on Wednesday accused Abbas of repeating “contemptuous anti-Semitic slurs.”

PR-mæssigt var talen en katastrofe. På toppen af det hele blev Abbas genvalgt, selv om han har siddet mange år på overtid.

US asks UN Security Council to reject ‘vile’ Abbas Holocaust remarks

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