Berlin: The Berlin police have started a preliminary investigation into the statement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel has committed 50 genocides (Holocaust) against Palestinians. Abbas’s statement was made during a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This caused protests in Germany and Israel. A German newspaper reported that Abbas may be investigated for making hateful statements. The police confirmed this. Downplaying genocide is a criminal offense in Germany. The news agency reported that the preliminary investigation is not a full-scale case investigation.
Although Germany does not consider the Palestinian territories as an autonomous state, prosecution cannot be initiated against Abbas, who came to Germany as a representative of the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas made the genocide reference in a press conference held on August 16. He was responding to a question about whether he would apologize for the attack on Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972. Since 1947, Israel has carried out 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian villages – 50 murders; He replied, 50 genocides.