Al-Jazeera Reports Western Condemnation Of Palestinian Authority President’s Recent Antisemitic Remarks, Exposed By MEMRI TV, Adds: Abbas' Spokesman Condemns The 'Rabid Campaign' Against The Leader, Who Was Just Quoting Academic, Historic Writing

On September 8, 2023, Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) aired a report on the backlash following the antisemitic statements made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his August 24, 2023 speech (see MEMRI Clip No. 10461). According to the report, Abbas’s statements were condemned by American Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt and the European Union. Al-Jazeera’s newscaster said that President Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, condemned the "rabid campaign" against Abbas, who had been merely quoting "academic and historic writings."

Reporter: "The American Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism said that he [sic] condemned the statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which he described as 'hateful and antisemitic,' urging Abbas to extend an immediate apology. The European Union said that the Palestinian President's speech included 'false and grossly midleading' remarks about Jews and antisemitism.

"In response to these comments, the Palestinian president's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned what he described as a 'rabid campaign,' over nothing but quotes from academic and historic writings. He said that President Abbas's position in this matter is 'clear and documented, which is the complete condemnation of the Nazi Holocaust, and the rejection of antisemitism.' Abbas said in the 11th session of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, at the end of August, that Hitler ordered to perpetrate the genocide of the Jews because of their role in society as money lenders, and not because of his enmity towards Judaism."