A day after Palestinian Authority leader repeated an obvious blood libel while speaking to the European Union Parliament, Mahmoud Abbas’s office walked it back. After giving the matter some thought, the PA government decided it was “evident” that the allegation Israelis rabbis have called for poisoning the water used by Arabs was “baseless.” After coming to that sober judgment, the PA also made it clear that those who drew any conclusions from Abbas’s statement were the real offenders. As the New York Times reported:
Mr. Abbas’s retraction was sent to reporters early Saturday morning, issued by the P.L.O., of which Mr. Abbas is the chairman. It said that Mr. Abbas “rejected all claims that accuse him and the Palestinian people of offending the Jewish religion.” It added that he “also condemned all accusations of anti-Semitism.”
“After it has become evident that the alleged statements by a rabbi on poisoning Palestinian wells, which were reported by various media outlets, are baseless, President Mahmoud Abbas has affirmed that he didn’t intend to do harm to Judaism or to offend Jewish people around the world,” the statement continued.
No doubt the White House, which has praised Abbas as a “champion of peace,” and the PA leader’s legion of left-wing Jewish apologists, who cling to the notion that he and his government are credible peace partners, are reassured. Abbas might have used a major international forum to spread a form of Jew-hatred reminiscent of medieval blood libels to, as our Evelyn Gordon noted on Friday, get a standing ovation from EU parliamentarians. But as long as he was prepared to quietly walk it back, there’s no reason to worry about him or the PA, right?
Of course, the “various media outlets” that spread the canard about Jews planning to poison Palestinian wells are run by the same Palestinian Authority over which Abbas rules as a not-so-benevolent despot. More notable, though, is that the only unusual aspect of the story was the venue. Far from descending uncharacteristically into hate, Abbas and the PA have a long record of engaging in anti-Semitic incitement.
As anyone who reads essential websites like Palestine Media Watch (palwatch.org) or MEMRI.org can attest, such vile fare as this latest yarn about Jews poisoning the wells is routine material in official Palestinian media. Abbas not only repeatedly praises terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands as martyrs and heroes but also has spread lies about Israel planning to harm the mosques on the Temple Mount, denied Jewish historical ties to Jerusalem, and railed about “filthy Jewish feet” profaning the city’s holy places. And lest anyone think this is something new for Abbas, he is the same person who wrote a doctoral thesis rooted in Holocaust denial in his youth.
So the only intelligent question to ask about Abbas is not why he would promote Jew-hatred, but why is it that anyone is surprised that he would do so? How is it that a man with a consistent record of indulging in anti-Semitic lies is still feted by forums like the EU and even fawned upon by left-wing Jewish groups who occasionally troop to Ramallah where Abbas reassures them he’s for peace? Nothing, not even his rejection of Israeli offers of statehood, his declaration that all of Israel is “occupied” territory or his refusal to recognize the legitimacy of a state no matter where its borders are drawn ever seems to matter to those who cling to the notion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the obstacle to peace.
Why do Abbas and the PA get away with it?
One reason is that even those who purport to sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians have such low expectations for a political culture rooted in hate that examples of anti-Semitism aren’t viewed as particularly problematic.
Another is that the world, and especially the Jewish left, is so focused on what they see as Israel’s sins that no one is interested in taking Palestinian anti-Semitism seriously.
Lastly, it must be admitted that the applause Abbas gets at international forums can only be explained by the fact that his views are symptomatic of the rising tide of anti-Semitism that is happening around the globe.
But as infuriating as the free pass Abbas is given for such behavior, it is incumbent on honest observers of the Middle East to draw conclusions from incidents such as this one. Those who wonder why Israelis have no appetite for replicating Ariel Sharon’s Gaza experiment in the West Bank, as they are urged to do by those who believe it must be saved from itself, should start by taking PA hate speech seriously. Such blood libels show that Abbas and his Hamas rivals that rule Gaza have more in common than advocates of Israeli concessions to the PA care to admit.
