A well-known Palestinian-Canadian activist who has previously been in hot water over his support for terrorism and use of anti-Semitic propaganda is in the news again, this time for defending Holocaust denial.
According to Shalom Toronto, Dr. Nazih Khatatba, editor of the Toronto Arabic weekly paper Meshwar, argued in a recent editorial that criticism of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for Holocaust denial is out of place.
“Why should any Palestinian have to declare belief in the Jewish Holocaust, and why should we accept it as truth?” Khatatba reportedly asked.
He slammed Abbas for allegedly giving in to Israeli demands. “Mr. President, I condemn the weakness in your words. We demand that you stop doing damage to our honor, and the honor of our martyrs and our prisoners,” he wrote.
Khatatba criticized Abbas for giving up “basic rights” regarding issues such as the “right of return” – the Arab demand that Israel allow millions of descendants of Arabs who fled Israel during the War of Independence to “return” to present-day Israel, effectively making it an Arab country.
He also slammed Abbas for reportedly being willing to give up his demand to certain Israeli cities in Judea and Samaria.
Meshwar and Khatatba have previously come under criticism over anti-Semitic cartoons, including a cartoon published in November 2012 which depicted Israelis eating Palestinian children and drinking their blood. Meshwar has also praised terrorists and terrorist organizations.
Khatatba refused to apologize for running the November 2012 cartoon.
In addition to serving as editor of Meshwar, Khatatba is on the board of directors of Palestine House, a Canadian non-profit that works with the Palestinian Arab population in Toronto. The organization was at the center of political controversy two years ago, when it was stripped of state funding due to a “pattern of support for extremism,” including its celebration at the release of terrorists and its praise of terrorist leaders.