Mashaal offers some Holocaust denial

This is a very important little story:

Hamas's exiled leader in Syria Khaled Mashaal said on Saturday that Israel is "exaggerating the Holocaust and using it to blackmail the world."

Mashaal said his comments as he joined other Palestinian leaders who were condemning Israel for its military maneuvers in the Gaza Strip while rockets fired by Palestinians rained down on western Negev towns.

Holocaust-denial was created by the Neo-Nazi movement. That should tell you something about Mashaal and the current regime in Iran. You know that, of course. While we are reviewing, the Hamas charter states the following:

With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there.

Nothing has changed.

Update: Here is a slightly fuller report of Mashaal's remarks. Note that he states that the "exageration" applies to "numbers" and the reference to the "real holocaust":

Mashaal accused Israel and those supporting it of "exaggerating the story of the Holocaust... and using it to blackmail the world." While Hamas has often likened Israeli troops to "Nazis," this appears to be one of the first times it has used the word Holocaust.

"Israel wants to exaggerate the Holocaust when it comes to numbers and make from it a tragedy such that no other can have their own tragedy," he said. "The Palestinian people are the victims and Israel is the hangman and killer," he added.

He also lashed out at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of "providing cover for the Israeli Holocaust" in Gaza by criticizing Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel and claiming that Hamas militants were sheltering al-Qaida terrorists.

He also blamed some European countries, without naming them, for keeping silent on Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians. "It is shameful that some Western countries try to clear their conscience with regards to the Holocaust that took place on their own land by being silent on the real Holocaust being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people," he said. [...]

Update: And while we're on the subject of Hamas' unchanging ideology, here is a statement from 4 months ago that there is "no room" in Israel "for Jews."

Tags: Israel, Hamas, Holocaust-denial, Mashaal