Mahmoud Abbas calls Holocaust 'most heinous crime' in modern history

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called the Holocaust 'the most heinous crime' of modern history.

Abbas also expressed sympathy for the victims, which is a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide.

According to Fox News, the remarks were published by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA just hours before the start of Israel's annual Holocaust commemoration.

Abbas' office said he discussed the Holocaust in a meeting with an American rabbi, Marc Schneier, who visited Abbas' headquarters in Ramallah last week, the report said.

He also told Schneier that 'what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust is the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era'.

Abbas also expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and many other innocent people who were killed, the report added.

Abbas said the Holocaust was an expression of the idea of ethnic discrimination and racism.