Editing Mahmoud Abbas (section)

===Published works and statements about the Holocaust===
{{main|The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism}}
''The Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement 1933–1945'' is the title of Abbas's [[Candidate of Sciences|CandSc]] thesis, which was completed in 1982 at the [[Peoples' Friendship University of Russia]], and defended at the [[Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences|Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences]].The dissertation and book discussed topics such as the [[Haavara Agreement]], in which the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]] signed a pact with [[Nazi Germany]] to facilitate Jewish emigration to Palestine.<ref name=kom>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=538949 |title=Аббас на глиняных ногах |trans-title=Abbas has feet of clay |first1=Mikhail |last1=Zigar |first2=Grigory |last2=Asmolov |date=17 January 2005 |magazine=[[Kommersant]]-Vlast |issue=605 |language=ru |page=56 |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://berkovich-zametki.com/2005/Zametki/Nomer11/Gorelik1.htm |title=Как товарищи Махмуд Аббас и Евгений Примаков Холокост отрицали |trans-title=How comrades Mahmoud Abbas and Yevgeny Primakov denied the Holocaust |first=Vadim |last=Gorelik |date=November 2005 |website=Notes on Jewish History |language=ru |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> Some content of his thesis has been considered as [[Holocaust denial]] by some Jewish groups,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1933453.stm |title=Profile: Mahmoud Abbas |date=5 November 2009 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> especially where he disputed the [[Holocaust victims|accepted number]] of Jews murdered in [[the Holocaust]] and claimed Zionist agitation had been the cause of the Holocaust.<ref name="wymaninstitute.org"/>

In 1984, he published a book titled ''The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism'' (Arabic: ''Al-Wajh al-Ākhar: Al-'Alāqat aL-Sirriyya bayn al-Nāzīyya wa al-Sahyūniyya'') based on the dissertation. In the book Abbas dismissed as a "myth" and "fantastic lie" that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Abbas-shifts-stance-on-Holocaust-350526 |title=Abbas: Holocaust 'most heinous crime' in modern era |date=27 April 2014 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrDuCwAAQBAJ |title=Refuting the Anti-Israel Narrative: A Case for the Historical, Legal and Moral Legitimacy of the Jewish State |last=Havardi |first=Jeremy |date=29 March 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-78649-881-9 |language=en}}</ref> writing that the real figure was at most "890,000" or "a few hundred thousand".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWJpAgAAQBAJ&q=Abbas |title=Genocide Denials and the Law |last1=Hennebel |first1=Ludovic |last2=Hochmann |first2=Thomas |date=9 February 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19987-639-6 |page=117 |language=en}}</ref> The number of such deaths, he claimed, had been exaggerated for political purposes, writing "it seems that the interest of the Zionist movement ... is to inflate this figure so that their gains will be greater. This led them to emphasize this figure [six million] in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached stunning conclusions—fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand."<ref name="wymaninstitute.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-03-denier.php |title=A Holocaust-Denier as Prime Minister of "Palestine"? |first=Rafael |last=Medoff |date=March 2003 |website=The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> When asked about this assertion in his book, Abbas replied some 10 years later that he had written the book when the Palestinians were at war with Israel, adding that "today I would not have made such remarks."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/international/middleeast/11ABBA.html |title=Man in the News; Soft-Spoken but Not Afraid to Voice Opinions – Mahmoud Abbas |first=Greg |last=Myre |date=11 March 2003 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> In a March 2006 interview with ''[[Haaretz]]'', Abbas stated:
<blockquote>I wrote in detail about the Holocaust and said I did not want to discuss numbers. I quoted an argument between historians in which various numbers of casualties were mentioned. One wrote there were 12&nbsp;million victims and another wrote there were 800,000. I have no desire to argue with the figures. The Holocaust was a terrible, unforgivable crime against the Jewish nation, a crime against humanity that cannot be accepted by humankind. The Holocaust was a terrible thing and nobody can claim I denied it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-told-us-to-ignore-israeli-map-reservations-1.8840 |title=U.S. told us to ignore Israeli map reservations |first=Akiva |last=Eldar |date=28 May 2003 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref></blockquote>

In August 2022, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor [[Olaf Scholz]] in [[Berlin]], Abbas was asked by an attending journalist if he would apologize for the 1972 [[Munich massacre]] of Israeli Olympic athletes by Palestinian terrorists. He responded that "If we want to go over the past, go ahead. I have 50 slaughters that Israel committed… 50 massacres, 50 slaughters, 50 holocausts." In an interview afterwards with the ''[[Bild]]'' tabloid, Scholz condemned Abbas's statements as a [[Trivializing the Holocaust|trivialization of the Holocaust]]. The remarks were also condemned by the [[Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=staff |first1=T. O. I. |last2=Agencies |title=In Berlin, Abbas says Israel committed 'holocausts' against the Palestinians; Scholz grimaces silently, later condemns remarks |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/in-berlin-abbas-skirts-apology-for-munich-attack-says-israel-committed-holocausts/ |access-date=3 September 2024 |work=The Times of Israel|date=16 August 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 August 2022 |title=Palestinian President Abbas skirts apology for Munich attack |url=https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-israel-germany-middle-east-1f2c2b601c4e4f48f88dff61b1a55271 |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=AP NEWS|first=Frank|last=Jordans |language=en}}</ref> Following an offense report for "relativizing the Shoah", in Berlin a criminal investigation was opened by police to determine if Abbas is guilty of [[Volksverhetzung]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 August 2022 |title=Berliner Polizei ermittelt gegen Abbas |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/berlin-ermittlungen-polizei-abbas-101.html |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=Tagesschau|language=de}}</ref> The investigation was closed because Abbas enjoys diplomatic immunity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-closes-incitement-probe-into-abbass-50-holocausts-remark/|title=Germany closes incitement probe into Abbas's '50 holocausts' remark|first=Jacob|last=Magid|website=Times of Israel |date=23 November 2022 |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref>

In August 2023, during a speech to the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Abbas claimed that Hitler killed Jews because of their "social role" as moneylenders, rather than out of antisemitism, and that Ashkenazi Jews are [[Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry|descendants of Khazars]]. His comments were condemned  by the United States, European Union, France, and Germany,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Berman |first1=Lazar |first2= Jacob |last2=Magid |date=7 September 2023 |title=US antisemitism envoy and EU denounce Mahmoud Abbas's speech: Distorts the Holocaust |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-abbass-holocaust-speech-fuels-antisemitism-insults-holocaust-victims/ |work=Times of Israel |language=en-US |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-09-07 |title=US, France, Germany condemn Mahmoud Abbas' antisemitic comments |work=Al-Monitor |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/09/us-france-germany-condemn-mahmoud-abbas-antisemitic-comments |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-09-07 |title=Palestinian president condemned over holocaust remark |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/07/palestinian-president-condemned-mahmoud-abbas-holocaust-remarks |access-date=3 September 2024 |first=Peter |last=Beaumont}}</ref> while [[Mayor of Paris]] [[Anne Hidalgo]] rescinded Abbas's [[Medal of the City of Paris]] in response.<ref name="Parismedal2">{{cite news |date=2023-08-09 |title=Paris mayor strips Palestinian President Abbas of honour over Holocaust remarks |work=[[France 24]] |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230908-paris-mayor-strips-palestinian-president-abbas-of-honour-over-holocaust-remarks |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref>