The German Response

Eighty years ago, the Holocaust was taking place amid World War II.

Ever since, Germany has been atoning for this vile act and careful with any pronouncement on its soil that would possibly seek to rewrite history or minimize the crime in any way.

Last week, this policy suffered an embarrassing blow. 

On a visit to Germany, the President of the Palestinian National Council, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke words that caused outrage around the world. These words also embarrassed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who is already struggling with a public persona perceived as weak by many in view of his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During their final press conference, Mr. Abbas was asked if he would apologize on behalf of the Palestinian militants who carried out the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage-taking in which eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered.

Instead of responding to the question, Mr. Abbas replied saying, “Since 1947 up until today, Israel has committed 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian areas — 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts." Both men shook hands at the end of the conference, and the criticisms began.

There is no doubt that the plight of Palestinians has been tragic and that their leadership has rejected opportunities to create a Palestinian State according to 1967 borders as stipulated in two U.N. Security Council resolutions.

There is no doubt that Israel has moved on and is now refusing to respond to Hamas actions with political concessions. Indeed, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, only to be met with the election of Hamas in 2006. Hamas has been labelled a terrorist organization by many countries and continually attacks Israeli citizens and targets.

Israel has established a chokehold on the West Bank and subjects Palestinians to many restrictions while expanding its settlements. This is certainly not helpful towards achieving a permanent peace.

However, to compare the Israeli occupation with the Holocaust is both a political and an emotional mistake.

There is no equivalence between Nazi Germany’s policy of exterminating Jews from the face of the earth with Israeli policies in the West Bank.

There is no equivalency between the democratic rights of Israeli Arabs who sit in parliament, serve in the armed forces, and adjudicate justice in the courts, with then plight of Arabs in the myriad dictatorships that surround the country.

To equate the treatment of Palestinians with the Holocaust is not only a supreme insult to the six million who were murdered, but also an afront to Mr. Abbas’s German hosts who have struggled with this stain on their history for over eight decades.

The most surprising aspect of all of this is the fact that Mr. Scholz stood by silently while Mr. Abbas made his accusations before the world’s media and then, he shook Mr. Abbas’s hand!

He only refuted Mr. Abbas’s statement the next day – too late for many German and Israeli political leaders and media.

But the German police – responsible for ensuring law and order in that country – are investigating Mr. Abbas for his statements since it is against German law to minimize the importance of the Holocaust.

Indeed, the Palestinian Authority tried to walk back Mr. Abbas’s statement the next day, asserting that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime in modern human history" and that Mr. Abbas' "answer was not intended to deny the singularity of the Holocaust that occurred in the last century,"

Too late for Mr. Scholz and too late for Mr. Abbas.

Since coming to office, Mr. Scholz has been unfavorably compared to his predecessor Angela Merkel for a variety of reasons. His response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and German support for Kiev has been all over the map, with unkept promises and dithering on issues of military support for the Ukrainian forces.

His silence in the wake of Mr. Abbas’s provocative statement underscore Mr. Scholz’s lack of political acumen and his insensitivity to tragic historical facts.

According to France 24, Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of the International Auschwitz Committee, said he found it "astonishing and disconcerting that the German side was not prepared for Mr. Abbas' provocations, and that his statements on the Holocaust were left unchallenged at the press conference".

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit later Wednesday told a regular media briefing that the head of the Palestinian representative office in Berlin had been summoned to Mr. Scholz's chancellery. 

"The chancellor's foreign and security policy advisor (Jens Ploetner) told him in no uncertain terms that the chancellor expects the Palestinian president to recognise the singularity of the Holocaust without exception." 

Mr. Hebestreit added that Mr. Abbas' comments "cast a dark shadow over Germany's ties with the Palestinian Authority". 

One would hope that the German leader will be more on the ball in future and not allow foreign leaders to make comments that are hurtful to many on German soil and abroad. 

That is what is expected of a leader.

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Edición: Laura Espejo