UN top official responds to remarks by Palestinian President about Holocaust

A top United Nations official responded to the remarks given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about 'Holocaust'. 

The UN official for the Middle East Peace Process said that spreading “deeply disturbing” conspiracy theories which fuel anti-Semitism are unacceptable, and serve neither the interests of Palestinians themselves or the pursuit of peace in the region.

According to news reports, the Palestinian leader suggested last Monday at the opening of the Palestinian National Council that the mass murder of European Jews during the Holocaust had been connected to their financial practices.


UN Special Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov said in a statement that President Abbas “chose to use his speech at the opening of the Palestinian National Council to repeat some of the most contemptuous anti-Semitic slurs, including the suggestion that the social behavior of Jews was the cause for the Holocaust.”

“Leaders have an obligation to confront anti-Semitism everywhere and always, not perpetuate the conspiracy theories that fuel it,” stressed Mr. Mladenov.

Mr. Mladenov also reiterated that denying the historic and religious connection of the Jewish people to the land and their holy sites in Jerusalem “stands in contrast to reality”.

He also stressed that the Holocaust was the result of thousands of years of persecution and that it did not occur in a vacuum.

“This is why attempts to rewrite, downplay or deny it are dangerous,” he said.