Palestinian Arab politicians on Wednesday raged against dozens of Palestinian Arab academics who had criticized Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ recent antisemitic speech, The Associated Press reports.
Earlier this week, more than 75 leading Palestinian Arab leaders, intellectuals and activists wrote an open letter in which they sharply condemned Abbas' speech and said he has long ago forfeited any claim to represent the Palestinian people.
In the controversial speech, the PA chairman claimed that Jews are not Semites and that Adolf Hitler only killed Jews "because they dealt in usury and money".
“Their statement is consistent with the Zionist narrative and its signatories give credence to the enemies of the Palestinian people,” said Abbas’ Fatah party on Wednesday.
Fatah officials called the signatories “mouthpieces for the occupation” and “extremely dangerous.”
Abbas’ comments have been widely condemned across the board. Among those to condemn the speech was US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt.
"I am appalled by President Abbas’ hateful, antisemitic remarks at a recent Fatah meeting. The speech maligned the Jewish people, distorted the Holocaust, and misrepresented the tragic exodus of Jews from Arab countries. I condemn these statements and urge an immediate apology," Lipstadt wrote on X.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) also blasted Abbas’ speech, writing on X, "I strongly condemn Palestinian President Abbas's recent comments, which egregiously distort the horrors of the Holocaust and repeat false tropes about Jews."
"His remarks add fuel to the fire at a time when antisemitism and violence against the community are so alarmingly on the rise," he added.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo stripped Abbas of the French capital's highest honor due to the speech.
The Representative Office of Canada to the PA joined in on the condemnation of the speech, writing, “We strongly condemn the inflammatory and antisemitic comments made by President Abbas. These remarks distort the historical truth of the Holocaust and promote classic and contemporary tropes of Jew-hatred.”
Meanwhile, Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh defended Abbas, claiming the PA chairman was only quoting Jewish, American, and other historians and authors in his speech, though he did not say which historians Abbas allegedly based his claims on.