Reuters
23 June 2016
By Robin Emmott and Dan Williams
BRUSSELS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas accused Israeli rabbis on Thursday of calling for the poisoning
of Palestinian water, in what appeared to be an invocation of a widely debunked
media report that recalled a medieval anti-Semitic libel.
The remarks drew strong condemnation from Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who termed them a "blood libel", in
a statement issued by his office.
Abbas's remarks, in a speech to the European
parliament, did not appear on the official transcript issued by his office,
suggesting he may have spoken off the cuff as he condemned Israeli actions
against Palestinians amid stalled peace talks.
"Only a week ago, a number of rabbis in Israel
announced, and made a clear announcement, demanding that their government
poison the water to kill the Palestinians," Abbas said.
"Isn't that clear incitement to commit mass
killings against the Palestinian people?" […]
New York Times
25 June 2016
By DIAA HADID
JERUSALEM — A little more than a day after President
Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority accused rabbis in Israel of calling
for their government to poison the water used by Palestinians, he retracted the
allegation in a statement on Saturday, saying it had become “evident” that it
was “baseless.”
Mr. Abbas made the unsubstantiated allegation during
an address to the European Parliament on Thursday. The remarks echoed
anti-Semitic claims that led to the mass killings of European Jews in medieval
times.
The Palestine Liberation Organization had initially
published the allegation on a website run by one of its offices, and it spread
through some regional news media outlets.
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.
It was not immediately clear why Mr. Abbas repeated
the allegation on Thursday, days after it was widely debunked. Neither the
rabbi who supposedly made the claim, nor the organization quoted in the
original P.L.O. article, appear to exist. […]