US statement slamming Abbas for anti-Semitic comments rejected

US statement slamming Abbas for anti-Semitic comments rejected
A statement circulated by the US sharply criticised the Palestinian presidents 'vile anti-Semitic' comments didn't receive the UN's backing.
2 min read
05 May, 2018
The majority of Palestinians want Mahmoud Abbas to step down, according to a poll [Getty]

The US failed to get the UN Security Council to back a statement which sharply criticised the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for what it calls "vile anti-Semitic slurs and baseless conspiracy theories".

The proposed statement called on Abbas "to refrain from anti-Semitic comments" and was circulated late afternoon for the 14 other council members to object.

The draft expressed the Security Council's "firm and unequivocal rejection of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial".

It also added "that anti-Semitism has historically contributed to threats to international peace and security, mass atrocities, and widespread violations of human rights".

Kuwait - a non-permanent council member that represents the Arab Group of countries - objected to the draft statement, arguing that Abbas had already apologised and that it was one-sided, diplomats said.

Abbas had apologised for the anti-Semitic comments made earlier this week which caused outrage among Palestinians and across the world.

"If people were offended by my statement in front of the PNC, especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologise to them," Abbas, whose term of office expired in 2009, said in a statement.

"I would like to assure everyone that it was not my intention to do so, and to reiterate my full respect for the Jewish faith, as well as other monotheistic faiths."

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the council's failure to agree on the statement "only further undermines the UN's credibility in addressing" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Disgusting anti-Semitic statements from the Palestinian leadership obviously undermine the prospects for Middle East peace," she said.

The US has blocked draft statements twice at the council expressing concern about the violence in Gaza, where nearly 50 people have been killed by Israeli forces.

During his lengthy speech in a Palestinian National Council (PNA) meeting, the Palestinian leader sparked fury as he claimed that the economic status of Jews in Europe in the 20th century provoked the Holocaust.

"From the 11th century up until the Holocaust that took place in Germany, Jews who moved to Western and Eastern Europe, were subjected to a massacre every 10 to 15 years. But why did this happen? They claim it is because they are purely Jewish," the 82-year-old politician said in a statement carried by Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman rejected the apology and said Abbas was a "pathetic Holocaust denier".