Palestinians Slam Abbas for Extending Condolences to Peres’ Family

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

JAFFA, Israel – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has come under fire for extending his condolences to the family of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who died on Wednesday.

Abbas’ critics slammed him for calling Peres a man of peace, saying the founder of Israel’s nuclear program and the man who supposedly presided over numerous massacres of Palestinians does not deserve it. They launched the hashtag #condolences_to_the_butcher.

On Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian news reported that Abbas sent a letter to Peres’ relatives praising him as the man responsible for kick-starting the “peace of the brave” together with former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

He also said that Peres labored intensively, from the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993 to his dying day, to establish a durable peace.

The letter won Abbas a torrent of criticism from fellow Palestinians.

“Abbas’ statements are a constant provocation,” Dr Usama Alshaqar wrote. “But this is beyond provocation, it’s political disgust! When was Peres, the engineer of the Israeli nuclear bomb, a man of peace?”

Tayser Turban posted a picture of Peres and Abbas hugging each other, and added the caption: “Fatah is sorry for the loss of Peres the butcher. Their pain is one.”

https://twitter.com/tayserturban/status/781127035922120705

“You cannot be mad at the man who betrayed his people and besieged them, because he’s the architect of Oslo, therefore he extends his condolences,” Muhamad Ajur said.

“Mahmoud, you piece of sh*t, how cheap and shameless you are,” Saji wrote. “And to think that Fatah posted a picture of you with one of the martyrs. Go to hell already, you disgust us.”

“Whoever extended his condolences to the criminal Shimon Peres is a Zionist and traitor, who betrayed their martyrs who were killed by this criminal,” Ray tweeted. “He is a war criminal who belongs in the International Criminal Court.”

“Mahmoud Abbas regrets the loss of Shimon Peres,” Ahmad Nemer tweeted. “Can such a man have any shred of dignity or can he be called an Arab or is it normal??!!”

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