This piece was contributed by Concordia University‘s 2014-2015 CAMERA Fellow, Bradley Martin. It has been republished in The Algemeiner.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently marched with world leaders in Paris in a gesture of unity; just days after Islamic extremists slaughtered 17 people. While much of the Western world agrees that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Abbas has been hailed by many as being a brave and moderate figure for seeking peace with Israel. Such characterizations fail to take key facts about Abbas into consideration, making his participation in the anti-terror march rather inappropriate.
In 1982, Abbas completed his doctoral thesis titled “The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Zionist Movement.” Abbas wrote that the estimated number of Jews killed during the Second World War, was “less than one million.” He also claims that the Zionist leadership collaborated with the Nazi regime to “facilitate the wide-spread destruction” of Jews. Abbas’ thesis later took the form of a book, which was printed in 1984 by a publisher based in Amman, Jordan. In the introduction to his book, he asserted again that the number of Jews killed was less than one million. Abbas also claimed that there were doubts regarding the existence of gas chambers.[1]
It is rather ironic that Abbas constructs a supposed Nazi conspiracy, considering the very real connection between Adolf Hitler and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini. Al-Husseini was considered by many to be one of the major founders of Palestinian Arab nationalism. During the Second World War, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and helped recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS, many of whom later fought against the nascent State of Israel during the 1948 War of Independence. Al-Husseini also sought Hitler’s help in extending his anti-Jewish program from Europe to Arab lands, in a personal meeting which took place in 1941.[2]
Abbas’ belief in a conspiracy between Nazis and Zionists are not only at odds with reality, it also serves as precedent to a very disturbing practice. Under his presidency the Palestinian Authority has continued to make it illegal for Palestinians to sell land to Jews, making it a capital offense. In one high profile case, former Palestinian intelligence officer Muhammad Abu Shahala, was sentenced to death after it was revealed that he sold his home in Hebron to a Jewish man. Under Palestinian law, the death sentence can be executed if approved by the president of the Palestinian Authority.[3] 
According to Caroline Glick of The Jerusalem Post, “scores of Arab land sellers began turning up dead in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria in both judicial and extrajudicial killings.”[4] Such laws, enforced by Abbas, have dangerous commonalities with the Third Reich ban on social and economic relations with Jews. Palestinian Authority officials and media have continuously engaged in incitement against Israel, under Abbas’ watch.[5] A recent example is just last year, when Abbas called upon all Palestinians to prevent Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount ‘by all means.’[6][7]
Apart from his Holocaust denial and enforcement of antisemitic legislation, Mahmoud Abbas’ past history of financing terrorism has yet to be addressed. In a Sports Illustrated article from 2002, the mastermind behind the Munich Massacre Abu Daoud with the help of German Neo-Nazis,[8] revealed that it was Abbas who financed the operation. Black September, the terrorist group which carried out the attack, led to the murder of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and one German police officer during the 1972 Summer Olympics. Daoud recalled how Arafat and Abbas wished him luck and kissed him, when he set about organizing the attack.
Not only does Abbas refuse to renounce this massacre, he actively praises Black September and other terrorists to this day. When Daoud died in 2010 of kidney failure, Abbas sent a telegram of condolence calling him “a wonderful brother, companion, tough and stubborn fighter.”[9] In late 2014, when Muataz Hijazi attempted to murder Yehuda Glick, Abbas expressed condolences to Hijazi’s family, while condemning the “heinous crime committed by the murderous, terrorist gangs in the Israeli occupation army.”[10]
In order for there to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel must negotiate with moderate Palestinian leadership. There must be willingness on the part of Palestinians to renounce terrorism and not pursue antisemitic policies.
- [1] http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/1414
- [2] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/mufti2.html
- [3] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134245/Former-Palestinian-intelligence-officer-sentenced-death-selling-home-Jews.html
- [4] Ibid.
- [5] http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/11/19/a-list-of-recent-palestinian-incitement-attacks-glorification/
- [6] http://news.yahoo.com/abbas-urges-palestinians-protect-al-aqsa-means-191742798.html
- [7] http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=2877&x_context=2&x_outlet=35
- [8] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/files-show-neo-nazis-helped-palestinian-terrorists-in-munich-1972-massacre-a-839467.html
- [9] http://elderofziyon.blogspot.ca/2012/07/mahmoud-abbas-connections-to-munich.html#.VMqZbSzZF2A
- [10] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.624200