Palestinian president at UN: Israel ‘lies like Goebbels’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “lying like Goebbels” in a speech at the United Nations, referring to the Nazi party’s chief propagandist. 

“The Israelis and Zionists continue their false claims that Israel made the desert bloom. Palestine was a desert, and they made it blossom, a paradise. They can’t but lie. But what can we do? They lie and lie just like Goebbels. They lie, lie and lie until people believe,” Abbas said.

The Palestinian President held a speech at the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, marking the 75th anniversary of “Nakba” (catastrophe), a term used by the Palestinians to refer the establishment of the State of Israel and the displacement of some 700.000 Palestinians.

“But the biggest lie is the claim that Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East… How can you have an occupation and still call yourself a democracy. It’s an oxymoron,” Abbas said.

The Palestinian President also lashed out at the U.S. and the UK, saying they “bear political and ethical responsibility directly for the Nakba of the Palestinian people because they took part in rendering our people a victim when they decided to establish and plant another entity in our historic homeland.”

“Israel would not have continued its hostility and aggression without the support it receives from these two countries. Britain gave Palestine as a gift to Israel. Why Palestine? Give them another island somewhere else,”Abbas added.

Abbas also demanded that Israel be expelled from the UN unless it gives the Palestinians a state and “right of return,” while denying that Jews have a historical connection to the Temple Mount.

“They haven’t found anything. Al-Sharif (Arabic name for Temple Mount) belongs exclusively to the Muslims,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen dismissed Abbas’ speech, saying: “We will fight the lie of the ‘Nakba’ with all our might and we will not allow the Palestinians to continue spreading lies and to distort history.”