ZOA Appalled: White House & State Dept. Silent on Abbas’ Hitler Lie While Wrongly Condemning Israeli Minister’s Remarks
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September 11, 2023

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

Palestinian Authority dictator Mahmoud Abbas recently made a sickening, extreme antisemitic speech to Fatah (the PA’s ruling party), which was broadcasted on PA official television, promoting hatred against Jews, using despicable Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda and blood libels.

Abbas claimed that Hitler and Europeans “fought” Jews not because of the Jewish religion, but because of Jews’ role in “usury and money” and “sabotage.” Abbas thus reiterated libelous Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda accusing Jews of usury, and of sabotaging Germany in World War I. Hitler used these outrageous falsehoods to justify murdering 6 million innocent Jews and over 1 million innocent Jewish children. (In fact, German Jews served bravely in the German army in WWI.)

Abbas also falsely and absurdly claimed that European Jews are descendants of “Khazars” and are not Semitic. And Abbas outrageously claimed that, at Winston Churchill’s urging, Israel attacked and murdered Jews in Arab countries to force them to emigrate to Israel, even though those Jews did not want to come to Israel and Israel didn’t want them because they were too much like other Arabs. (In fact, Arab nations’ pogroms, murders and expulsions against Jews forced Jews to leave their homes and all their property in Arab countries. Israel rescued, welcomed and assisted these now-penniless Jews fleeing Arab persecution.)

Abbas also indicated that both the U.S. and Britain were “enemies” because they were both responsible for the Balfour Declaration. (The U.S. did in fact pre-approve the Balfour declaration. This and the fact that the League of Nations codified the Balfour Declaration were the only real facts in Abbas’ speech.) (See MEMRI video and translation of Abbas’ speech.

It is appalling that neither the White House nor the U.S. State Dept. officially condemned Abbas’ libelous, antisemitic, anti-American speech; or finally ended the United States’ financial and other support for the Palestinian Arabs whose leader made it clear that the U.S. is their “enemy.” Yet the State Dept. did wrongly officially condemn remarks by an Israeli Minister.

But the White House, Secretary of State and U.S. Embassy to Israel issued no statements condemning Abbas’ comments. Instead, they continued the Biden policy of financing the Palestinian Arabs and promoting a Palestinian Arab terror state.

Indeed, the U.S. State Department readout of a telephone call on September 5, 2023 (shortly after Abbas’ libelous speech) reveals that Secretary Blinken “reaffirmed U.S. support for measures to advance freedom and security and improve the quality of life for the Palestinian people” and reaffirmed the Biden administration’s support for a “two state solution” (the infamous euphemism for creating a Palestinian Arab terror state on land to which Israel has the lawful, internationally-guaranteed right.)  According to the State Department readout, during his call with Abbas, Blinken made no mention, or condemnation, of Abbas’ hateful statements.

The only condemnations by U.S. officials appear to have been two toothless tweets by lower-level U.S. officials. Countering Antisemitism Envoy Deborah Lipstadt tweeted that she condemned Abbas’ statements and asked for an apology. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted that she joined Lipstadt’s condemnation.

Asking Abbas for an apology is as meaningful as asking Eichmann for an apology.

While Lipstadt’s and Greenfield’s condemnation tweets were better than Blinken’s and Biden’s silence, these tweets failed to call for any change in Biden’s dangerous hostile-to-Israel policies and funding of the Palestinian Arabs. That funding enables the PA to continue financing its horrific “pay to slay” payments to murder Jews and Americans. 

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