A little over a year ago, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was already caught red-handed. At the end of a conference of the Fatah Central Committee in Ramallah, a 14-second clip of him speaking was leaked online. The moment it was out, there was no going back.
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Abbas was heard using street language to curse China, Russia, American, and "all the Arabs." In a moment of anger, he unleashed his tongue. Then there were attempts to claim that the recording had been faked, but the faux pas had been made.
It had been preceded by another faux pas that also made waves, when Abbas cursed US President Donald Trump using the phrase "May your home be destroyed." He said it at another meeting of the Palestinian leadership. It was late, and his speech lasted some two hours. There was a written text, to which he added his own spontaneous remarks, and something went wrong.
The PA leader's advanced age is showing itself. He is still lucid and capable of making decisions, but from time to time, he slips. It usually happens when he veers off the speech that has been written, or in situations that do not allow him to stick to the text prepared. That's what happened at last week's press conference in Germany with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. After nine minutes of reading, it was time for questions from the press, and that's where the rais went wrong.
Later on, after creating an incident that raged in Israel from Wednesday night through Thursday morning. The clarification was unequivocal – he did not deny the Holocaust, and stressed that it was the worst crime perpetrated in modern history.
But not even that declaration could save the PA leader. At most, it helped do damage control. No one in the Israeli public will remember his clarification. But his remarks about Israel committing "50 Holocausts" against the Palestinians will be remembered.
In Ramallah, no one took the president's remarks to heart, despite the crisis they sparked. Not because they were playing down their significance, but because they know their leader.
"It's not surprising, and it's not the first time Abu Mazen has said tasteless things in an embarrassing manner, not only about the Israeli issue, but in general. It happens to him from time to time," Fatah officials said.
In hindsight, if Abbas could have a "do-over" of the press conference, he might be more careful of using the word "Holocaust" to describe "acts of slaughter against Palestinians."
But even after the controversy, there's no guarantee that he won't repeat the same mistake. It's not only because of his age and his stale message, it's also his media advisors. Abbas understands political issues very well, but when it comes to issues related to Israeli society, he seems to understand a little less.
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