In the News

TIME Magazine By Sam Frizell   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history. “[W]hat happened to the Jews in the Holocaust is the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era,” Abbas said in a meeting with the American rabbi Marc Schneier, the Associated Press reports. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as expressing his “sympathy with the families of the victims and many other innocent...

Los Angeles Times By Batsheva Sobelman and Kathleen Hennessey At a time when the Middle East peace process appears stymied, Israel received an unexpected olive branch when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the Holocaust and expressed sympathy with its victims. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the comments a play for public opinion and called on the Palestinian leader to “tear up” his recent pact with the militant Islamist movement Hamas. “What...

Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era.” The statement, made in advance of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah, was published Sunday by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. It also featured a call on the Israeli government “to conclude a just and comprehensive peace in the region” that was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

Haaretz By Barak Ravid Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas released a special message on Sunday in Arabic and in English on the occasion of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, in which he decried the murder of Jews in the Holocaust as “the most heinous crime against humanity in modern history. This is the first time a Palestinian president has ever made such a public declaration. Haaretz reported last week that Abbas was due to release the message to the Jewish people ahead of the Israeli...

Fox News RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history and expressed his sympathy for the victims, a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide. Abbas’ comments appeared, in part, aimed at reaching out to Israeli public opinion at a time of deep crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. The remarks were published by the Palestinian official news agency...

El Mundo By Sal Emergui Con una rotundidad sin precedentes, el presidente palestino, Abu Mazen, ha condenado el asesinato de seis millones de judíos en el Holocausto perpetrado por los nazis. En Israel -que esta noche inicia las conmemoraciones del solemne y emotivo Yom HaShoah (Día del Holocausto)- suelen recordar que en 1982 Abu Mazen escribió una polémica tesis en la ex Unión Soviética. En el texto académico sobre el Holocausto, convertido posteriormente en un libro, ponía en duda la cifra de...

CNN By Ben Brumfield and Josh Levs Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the Holocaust the most heinous crime in modern human history, his office said in a statement Sunday. He called the Holocaust an embodiment of racism, in response to a question by Rabbi Marc Schneier on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the statement from the Palestine Liberation Organization said. He said Palestinians reject racism and ethnic discrimination, and he called on the world to fight it. “The...

CBS News RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history and expressed his sympathy for the victims, a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide. Abbas’ comments appeared, in part, aimed at reaching out to Israeli public opinion at a time of deep crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. The remarks were published by the Palestinian official news...

The New York Times By Jodi Rudoren JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority issued a formal statement on Sunday calling the Holocaust “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era” and expressing sympathy with victims’ families. The statement, which grew out of a meeting a week ago between Mr. Abbas and an American rabbi who promotes understanding between Muslims and Jews, is the first such offering of condolences by the Palestinian leader. Mr....

The Jerusalem Post By Sam Sokol Palestinian leader tells New York rabbi he will speak out against European ritual slaughter bans. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Holocaust the “single greatest tragedy in modern-day history” during a meeting with a visiting American rabbi in Ramallah on Sunday. According to Rabbi Marc Schneier of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, a Jewish-Muslim interfaith group, Abbas agreed to make a public declaration on behalf of Holocaust-remembrance efforts...