MembersMahmoud Abbas and the Holocaust

Twelve years ago, when Mahmoud Abbas was elected head of the Palestinian Authority, there were many Israelis who “demanded to investigate his past, particularly the fact that he is a Holocaust denier,” writes Edy Cohen in his new book, The Holocaust in the Eyes of Mahmoud Abbas.

By Tsvi Sadan |
Mahmoud Abbas
HOLOCAUST DENIER? The Western-backed Abbas has played down the scope of the Holocaust and suggested that it was a Zionist conspiracy Photo: Flash90

During a lecture to launch the book, Cohen emphasized that no publishing house was willing to take on his book, not even the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

“No one wanted to touch this hot potato,” he said, speaking with Knesset (Israeli parliament) members.

“Those from the Right said it is a sensitive political issue. Those from the Left didn’t want to tarnish the image of Abbas as a tolerant Palestinian leader.”

Heads of university departments told Cohen they feared a financial backlash from Europe if they helped him expose Abbas as a Holocaust denier. This stiff resistance exists even though Israel and many other countries have outlawed denial of the Holocaust. Israeli law can sentence a person to five years in prison for “diminishing the proportions of acts committed in the period of the Nazi regime.”

Cohen and co-author Pierre Lavi first felt compelled to...

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