Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ accusation of the Holocaust against Israel has caused outrage in Berlin. Now the police are also investigating an “initial suspicion of hate speech”. Germany sends millions of euros to the Palestinians every year.
The Holocaust allegation by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas against Israel is now also calling the Berlin police into action. “The preliminary investigation into the initial suspicion of incitement to hatred under Section 130 of the Criminal Code is being processed in a specialist department of the State Criminal Police Office,” a police spokeswoman told the “Bild” newspaper. Criminal lawyer Udo Vetter told the newspaper: “As a result, an initial suspicion of downplaying the Nazi tyranny cannot be dismissed out of hand.”
At a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Chancellery on Tuesday, Abbas accused Israel of multiple “Holocausts” against the Palestinians, triggering outrage. “Israel has committed 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian locations from 1947 to the present day,” Abbas said, adding: “50 massacres, 50 holocausts.”
Mahmoud Abbas may be protected by “official visit” immunity
When asked by “Bild”, the Federal Foreign Office said that the federal government assumes that Abbas enjoys immunity because he was in the Federal Republic as part of an “official visit”.
The Augsburg criminal law expert Michael Kubiciel told the paper that it was not decisive whether Abbas was in Berlin at the invitation of the Federal Republic. Many people would accept an invitation from government agencies without enjoying immunity. It is therefore crucial that the person was in Germany “as a representative of another state”. Consequently, the question “whether Palestine is a state or not is of crucial importance,” said Kubiciel.
Germany has not yet recognized Palestine as a state, but maintains diplomatic relations with the Palestinian territories and sends millions in aid there, which in view of the scandal surrounding Abbas this week again triggered heavy criticism.
Germany pays hundreds of millions of euros to the Palestinians
For example, the German government made pledges of more than 340 million euros to the Palestinians for humanitarian aid and development for the years 2021 and 2022. A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin told the German Press Agency for both the Foreign Ministry and the development department. There is no direct funding of the Palestinian Authority by the Federal Foreign Office or the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation.
According to the information, the Federal Foreign Office is expected to make a total of 72 million euros available for the population in the Palestinian territories in 2022. Of this, 65 million euros are earmarked for humanitarian aid. In 2021 it was therefore a total of around 94 million euros. According to the latest information, the German Development Ministry (BMZ) committed a total of 100 million euros for bilateral development cooperation projects in September 2021. These commitments for projects lasting several years cover a period of two years, i.e. 2021 and 2022. The projects would be implemented via German implementing organizations. Political partners for the individual projects are the respective specialist ministries of the Palestinian Authority.
Source: Stern
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