PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES OVER ANTI-SEMITIC REMARKS

JERUSALEM Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an apology Friday following uproar over a speech he made this week that was condemned as anti-Semitic and dismissive of Jewish historical connections to the Holy Land.

Palestinian officials said Abbas was under “tremendous” pressure from numerous diplomats and foreign ministers to apologize.

Abbas on Monday said it was the Jews’ “social function,” including money lending, which caused animosity toward them in Europe. He also described the creation of Israel as a European colonial project, saying “history tells us there is no basis for the Jewish homeland.”

The Palestinian president’s remarks were sharply condemned by the United Nations, European Union, United States, Israel and others as perpetuating antiSemitic stereotypes and falsifying history.

Abbas said Friday that “if people were offended by my statement … especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologize to them.” He condemned anti-Semitism “in all its forms” and said he remains committed “to the twostate solution, and to live side by side in peace and security.”

Abbas also said “I would also like to reiterate our long held condemnation of the Holocaust, as the most heinous crime in history, and express our sympathy with its victims.”