Berlin police probe Abbas over Holocaust claims
BERLIN police said on Friday that they have launched an investigation into Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas over his comments on the Holocaust during a recent visit to the German capital.
Police have received a complaint accusing Abbas of “relativising the Holocaust” and are investigating “on suspicion of inciting hatred”, a police spokesperson told AFP.
Any relevant findings will be passed to Berlin prosecutors who will eventually decide whether a crime has been committed.
At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, Abbas had accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians since 1947 in response to a question about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics by Palestinian militants.
Scholz did not immediately challenge Abbas on his comments, although he had earlier rejected Abbas’ description of relations between Israel and the Palestinian territories as “apartheid”.
Following widespread criticism, Scholz tweeted on Wednesday that he was “disgusted by the outrageous remarks” by the Palestinian leader.
In Israel, Abbas’ remarks drew a hail of condemnation from Prime Minister Yair Lapid and others.
“Mahmud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed ‘50 Holocausts’ while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie,” Lapid wrote on Twitter.
According to Germany’s Bild
daily newspaper, the foreign ministry believes Abbas will benefit from diplomatic immunity because he was in Germany on an “official visit”.
But Michael Kubiciel, a professor of criminal law quoted by Bild, said Abbas could only enjoy immunity if he had been in Germany “as a representative of another state”.
Germany does not recognise Palestine as a country, but maintains diplomatic relations with the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, Scholz told the Israeli prime minister that any attempt to play down or deny the Holocaust was unacceptable.
“Our position is clear: we condemn any attempt to deny or downplay the importance of the Holocaust,” Scholz tweeted after a phone call with Yair Lapid.
Germany does not recognise Palestine as a country, but maintains diplomatic relations with the Palestinian territories. |