Palestinian intellectuals condemn Mahmoud Abbas’s ‘attempt to justify antisemitism’

Palestinian Authority leader caused outrage after talking about Hitler and European Jews in a speech to his Fatah party

Dozens of leading Palestinian intellectuals, artists and other public figures have published an open letter condemning antisemitic comments made by the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

In a letter published on Sunday, 96 people, including Rashid Khalidi, the historian, Dana el-Kurd, the political scientist, and Sam Bahour, the prominent businessman, said they “unequivocally condemn the morally and politically reprehensible comments” made by Abbas, which were publicly circulated last week.