Nazi admirer Lavrov, propaganda using debunked idea about Hitler - broadly denounced, shifts definition of Nazi

Submitted by Charles Jr (United States), May 9, 2022 at 08:06

No, Hitler did not have 'Jewish blood,' despite Russia saying so

By John Kunza

May 4 2022

...Israel's prime minister also issued a strong rebuke, calling the claims "Such lies are meant to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history and thus free the oppressors of the Jews from their responsibility. No war today is the Holocaust or is like the Holocaust."
The head of Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, also condemned Lavrov's comments, saying they were "dangerous and worthy of every condemnation." Adding that the Russian foreign minister turned "victims into criminals, on the basis of pushing a completely false claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent."

Hitler was not Jewish

The claim that Hitler was Jewish is an antisemitic belief used to cast the Jewish people as the perpetrators of the Holocaust in an attempt to deflect blame on the actual actors in the murder of 6 million people.
The conspiracy theory stems from multiple false beliefs and rumors. One suggests that Hitler's grandfather was Jewish. Historians say this is not true because Hitler's father, Alios, was registered as an illegitimate child with no father. Furthermore Hitler's paternal grandmother, Maria, was Catholic.
Another rumor claims that the mother of Hitler's father worked in the home of a wealthy Jew and she was impregnated by someone in family. Hitler's grandmother did work for a Jewish family but there is zero evidence that this happened.

...Russia also slammed Israel's vote at the United Nations condemning the invasion of Ukraine.
https://jewishunpacked.com/no-hitler-did-not-have-jewish-blood-despite-russia-saying-so/

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EU commissioner condemns Lavrov's Hitler remarks

By EUOBSERVER
2. May, 17:20

EU Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas said Monday that comments by Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov — that Adolf Hitler had Jewish roots — were "factually false", "perpetuate the outrageous narrative on 'denazification' of Ukraine", and "distort and trivialise the Holocaust." "Any attempt to turn the victims of the Shoah into perpetrators is unacceptable," he tweeted. Earlier, Israel lambasted the comments too.
https://euobserver.com/tickers/154840

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Germany denounces Lavrov's comments on Hitler and Zelenskiy as 'absurd'
Reuters, May 2, 2022 https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-denounces-lavrovs-comments-hitler-zelenskiy-absurd-2022-05-02/

Germany Denounces Lavrov's Comments on Hitler and Zelenskiy as 'Absurd'
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-05-02/germany-denounces-lavrovs-comments-on-hitler-and-zelenskiy-as-absurd

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Czech MFA @CzechMFA
May 3, 20222 @CzechMFA Tweeted:

strongly condemns Russian Foreign Minister S. Lavrov's false statements about Jewish guilt for the Holocaust and Hitler's Jewish roots. It is Russia that should learn from the tragic events of World War II today and not distort historical facts in this way.
https://twitter.com/CzechMFA/status/1521517206466617347

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Yad Vashem chief accuses Lavrov of libelously blaming Jews for Holocaust

May 2, 2022

The head of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, Dani Dayan, accuses Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of a "blood libel" for claiming that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler "had Jewish blood" and that Jews are among the worst antisemites.
"If Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov asks to visit Yad Vashem to learn, we will welcome him. He crossed a red line; blaming the Jews for the Holocaust is an unacceptable blood libel," Dayan tells Army Radio.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/yad-vashem-chief-accuses-lavrov-of-libelously-blaming-jews-for-holocaust/

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Museum Condemns Russian Foreign Minister Remarks

May 02, 2022
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM CONDEMNS RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER'S HITLER REMARKS

WASHINGTON, DC –

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is outraged once again by statements from Russian officials, first President Putin and now Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that weaponize falsified history to justify an unprovoked war of exceptional brutality against the Ukrainian people.
"To claim that Hitler was Jewish and imply that Jews were responsible for Nazism and the Holocaust is an antisemitic lie of extraordinary proportions," said Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat. "In addition to promoting baseless conspiracy theories and hatred, this obscene claim is a grave offense to the victims of true Nazism, the six million Jews and millions of other civilians, and cannot obscure Russia's perpetration of mass atrocities in Ukraine."
A nonpartisan, federal educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America's national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. Through the power of Holocaust history, the Museum challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. For more information, visit ushmm.org.
https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/museum-condemns-russian-foreign-minister-remarks

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WJC @WorldJewishCong Tweeted:

This week in the Jewish world – WJC President Ronald S. Lauder condemns attack in Elad; WJC deplores remarks by Russian FM Lavrov.
May 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/WorldJewishCong/status/1522682616108838912

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Schumer calls Lavrov's Zelensky-Hitler comparison 'sickening'

May 2, 2022 — Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on May 2 decried Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/schumer-calls-lavrovs-zelensky-hitler-comparison-sickening/2022/05/02/473ade27-c455-4649-8a15-837a24396efc_video.html

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Jewish Members Issue Statement Responding to Recent Antisemitic Remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

May 3, 2022

https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/jewish-members-issue-statement-responding-recent-antisemitic-remarks-russian-foreign

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[Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Illinois 9th Congressional District]
Jan Schakowsky @janschakowsky Tweeted:

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's attempt to defend Putin's war crimes with antisemitism and disinformation is deplorable, sickening, and should be condemned by all. This antisemitism feeds into an already raging global fire and cannot be tolerated.
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/janschakowsky/status/1521256864025137152

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Amb. Taylor: Lavrov's Hitler comments show 'evil nature of the Russian government' and 'ludicrous' justification for invasion

May 2, 2022
Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and New York Times Pentagon Correspondent Helene Cooper join Andrea Mitchell to address Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's remarks on the 'denazification' of Ukraine, which drew a level of condemnation from Israel unprecedented since Russia's invasion. "No one can remain neutral. No thinking person, no moral person, no moral nation can remain neutral. And this just demonstrates the total depravity, really evil nature of the Russian government, top to bottom," says Taylor. "It demonstrates that there is no justification, there was no justification, there's no rationale for this invasion."
https://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/amb-taylor-lavrov-s-hitler-comments-show-evil-nature-of-the-russian-government-and-ludicrous-justification-for-invasion-139119173572

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Blinken on Lavrov: Incumbent on the world to speak out against such vile rhetoric

US Secretary of State responds to Russian Foreign Minister's comments on Hitler.

Elad Benari, 03.05.22
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326824

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Ukraine's Zelenskiy says Russia forgot World War Two lessons

Reuters, May 2, 2022
LVIV, Ukraine, May 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's suggestion that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins showed that Moscow has forgotten, or never learned, the lessons of World War Two.
"I have no words...No one has heard any denial or any justification from Moscow. All we have from there is silence.... this means that the Russian leadership has forgotten all the lessons of World war two," Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, said in his nightly video message.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-zelenskiy-says-russia-forgot-world-war-two-lessons-2022-05-02/

Zelenskyy to Fox News: Russia is 'following the concept of Goebbels' with Hitler comparison

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sits down for exclusive interview with Fox News

By Greg Norman | Fox News, May 4, 2022
https://www.foxnews.com/world/zelenskyy-fox-news-exclusive-interview-ukraine-russia

Ukraine calls for further isolation of Russia after Lavrov's antisemitism remarks

02.05.2022

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed its solidarity with the Jewish people against the background of anti-Semitic remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and called on the governments of all countries to further isolate Russia.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3473112-ukraine-calls-for-further-isolation-of-russia-after-lavrovs-antisemitism-remarks.html

"Russia Forgot World War 2 Lessons": Zelensky After Russian Minister's Hitler Remarks

Russia-Ukraine war: All we have from there is silence.... this means that the Russian leadership has forgotten all the lessons of World war two," Ukraine's Zelensky said.

May 3, 2022
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-says-russia-forgot-world-war-ii-lessons-2941017

Stratcom Centre UA @StratcomCentre Tweeted:

The world has strongly condemned the antisemitic statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Jewish roots of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Hitler. Lavrov's antisemitic statement is evidence of the fact that Russia is the successor to Nazi ideology.
May 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/StratcomCentre/status/1522235987253989379

Dmytro Kuleba @DmytroKuleba
Ukraine government official Tweeted:

FM Lavrov could not help hiding the deeply-rooted antisemitism of the Russian elites. His heinous remarks are offensive to President @ZelenskyyUa, Ukraine, Israel, and the Jewish people. More broadly, they demonstrate that today's Russia is full of hatred towards other nations.
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1521060367778074629

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Trudeau calls Lavrov's comments on Hitler 'ridiculous and unacceptable'
Reuters, May 3, 2022
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday denounced Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments suggesting that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins.
"They are ridiculous and unacceptable," Trudeau told reporters during a media availability in Windsor, Ontario. "What the Russian Foreign Minister just said is unbelievable."
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/2023268-trudeau-calls-lavrovs-comments-on-hitler-ridiculous-and-unacceptable

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Anthony Housefather @AHousefather Tweeted:

Very pleased that the House of Commons unanimously adopted my motion to condemn the defamatory and offensive comments of Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
May 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/AHousefather/status/1521574553280995329

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Italian PM slams Lavrov for his 'Hitler' statements in interview with local television

03.05.2022

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for his statements in an interview with Italian television.
"Our country allows you to freely express your opinions, even if they are clearly false and erroneous. I think what Minister Lavrov said is wrong," he said.
https://news.am/eng/news/699766.html

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From Hitler's Jewish origins to fake news on Bucha, up to the Wagner Group: Lavrov's lies in his interview with Rete4

The intervention of Vladimir Putin's right-hand man and the difficulty of interrupting him, linked to the fact that he was online from Moscow, transformed his first interview with a European channel since the outbreak of the war into a propaganda rally full of false and unhistorical. Here's what they are...

by Gianni Rosini, May 2, 2022
[Dalle origini ebraiche di Hitler alle fake news su Bucha, fino al Wagner Group: le bugie di Lavrov nella sua intervista a Rete4

L'intervento del braccio destro di Vladimir Putin e la difficoltà di interromperlo, legata al fatto che si trovava in collegamento web da Mosca, hanno trasformato la sua prima intervista a un canale europeo dallo scoppio della guerra in un comizio propagandistico ricco di affermazioni false e antistoriche. Ecco quali sono

di Gianni Rosini, 2 Maggio 2022]
https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2022/05/02/dalle-origini-ebraiche-di-hitler-alle-fake-news-su-bucha-fino-al-wagner-group-le-bugie-di-lavrov-nella-sua-intervista-a-rete4/6577489/amp/

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How the world condemned Lavrov's anti-Semitic statements - Socportal
May 2, 2022

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba commented on Lavrov's anti-Semitic statements: his words demonstrate that modern Russia is full of hatred for other peoples...

"Russia is the legal successor of the Nazi ideology" - adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak condemned Lavrov's anti-Semitic statements

Russia's anti-Semitism is becoming more and more evident. They no longer hide and show it openly to the world. First, they fired missiles at the territory where the Babi Yar memorial complex is located, - Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, wrote on Telegram.
https://socportal.info/en/news/covetnik-glavy-op-mikhail-podolyak-osudil-antisemitskie-zayavleniya-lavrova/

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[Bosnia's Jewish Community]

Head of BiH's Jewish Community condemns Lavrov's statements as "anti Semitic"
May 4, 2022
https://ba.n1info.com/english/news/head-of-bihs-jewish-community-condemns-lavrovs-statements-as-anti-semitic/

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Israel condemns Russian foreign minister's comments as antisemitic.

May 2, 2022, Myra Noveck

Mr. Bennett added, "The goal of such lies is to accuse the Jews themselves of the most awful crimes in history, which were perpetrated against them, and thereby absolve Israel's enemies of responsibility."
Separately, Mr. Lapid said that Mr. Lavrov's comments were "both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error."
"Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust," he added...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/world/europe/israel-russian-foreign-minister-sergey-lavrov.html

Israel demands apology after Russia says Hitler had Jewish roots

By Crispian Balmer
Cristian Balmer
Germany, Italy, Canada denounce Lavrov remarks
[New low for Lavrov, Metro News
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FR0myabWQAImP0O?format=jpg&name=small
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-denounces-lavrovs-hitler-comments-summons-russian-ambassador-2022-05-02/

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews Tweeted:
Yair Lapid, Israel's foreign minister, condemned Lavrov's remarks: "Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism ..."
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1521124014298746886

The myth that Hitler had "Jewish" origins, invoked by Sergei Lavrov, is based on mere speculation, experts say

By James, May 2, 2022

Following the statements of the head of the Russian diplomacy, his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, denounced Lavrov's statements as "unforgivable, scandalous and a terrible historical mistake."
https://247newsbulletin.com/world/232993.html

Dr. Jennifer Cassidy @OxfordDiplomat Tweeted:
"The Ukrainians aren't Nazis. Only the Nazis were Nazis and only they dealt with the systematic destruction of the Jewish people" Yair Lapid firm response to Lavrov's vile remarks encouraging countries to take a firm stand against Russia's charade goal of denazifying Ukraine.
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/OxfordDiplomat/status/1521116802759249920

Dmytro Kuleba @DmytroKuleba
Ukraine government official Tweeted:

Israeli FM @yairlapid and I are both outraged by FM Lavrov's antisemitic remarks. I emphasized that antisemitism has a long track record among Russian elites. The only way out for FM Lavrov is to publicly apologize before Jews around the world. Antisemitism can not be tolerated.
May 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1522196009778044931

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Russian foreign minister's 'Nazi' rhetoric met with international condemnation

"I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood" and "Some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews," says Lavrov in a Sunday interview

All Israel News Staff | May 3, 2022

https://allisrael.com/russian-foreign-minister-s-nazi-rhetoric-met-with-international-condemnation

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Lavrov's words about Hitler are drawn from the memoirs of a Nazi hierarch
[Le parole di Lavrov su Hitler sono tratte dalle memorie di un gerarca nazista]
May 2, 2022
https://www.editorialedomani.it/politica/mondo/lavrov-hitler-zelensky-irmrkjx4

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Leonardo Carella @leonardocarella Replying to @b_judah:

The chyron reads "the biggest antisemites are ...". An evening of shame for my country.
https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/1520894769563635716

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Crist Condemns Anti-Semitic Comments by Russian Foreign Minister

Washington, May 4, 2022

U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) issued this statement following recent anti-Semitic comments made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"The Russian Foreign Minister's anti-Semitic comments are outrageous yet unsurprising," said Rep. Crist. "It's coming from the senior representative of the Russian regime that is actively committing war crimes against the Ukrainian people – including Ukrainian Jews – while spewing false, anti-Jewish tropes. Along with my condemnation of Putin's illegal war against Ukraine, I will continue to call out anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it occurs. Unchecked anti-Semitism leads to more hate and violence against Jews around the world, and I won't stand for it."
https://crist.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2625

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Ambassador Nikki Haley Applauds Dobb Draft, Condemns Lavrov As Reckless, Addicted To Attention, And With A Drinking Problem!)

By Hugg Hewitt, May 4, 2022
https://hughhewitt.com/ambassador-nikki-haley-applauds-dobb-draft-condemns-lavrov-as-reckless-addicted-to-attention-and-with-a-drinking-problem/

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Poland in the OSCE

Personal Representatives condemn anti-Semitic comments by Russian Foreign Minister

05.05.2022
https://www.gov.pl/web/osce/personal-representatives-condemn-anti-semitic-comments-by-russian-foreign-minister

Polish OSCE Chairmanship 2022 @PLinOSCE Tweeted:
Personal Representatives of the Chairman-in-Office condemn shocking anti-Semitic comments by Russian Foreign Minister. #OSCE2022POL
https://twitter.com/PLinOSCE/status/1522186703003340800
May 5, 2022
Personal Representatives condemn anti-Semitic comments by Russian Foreign Minister
https://www.osce.org/tolerance-and-nondiscrimination/517479

Tim B @tjbiebs_b @belarus Tweeted:

Representatives from Poland to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Thursday accused Lavrov of reviving "a disgraceful antisemitic trope" and condemned his attempts to "draw on one of the most sinister antisemitic myths in an effort to discredit.
May 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/tjbiebs_b/status/1522575275824869376

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OSCE and U.S. Mission to the OSCE Condemn Anti-Semitic Remarks by Russian Foreign Minister - Vindobona.org | Vienna International News
May 6, 2022

The OSCE and the U.S. Mission to the OSCE recently condemned the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who claimed that Adolf Hitler was of Jewish origin, sparking an outcry in the Jewish faith community. The two statements describe the falsity of the statement and convey a lack of understanding of such obviously provocative statements.
https://www.vindobona.org/article/osce-and-u-s-mission-to-the-osce-condemn-anti-semitic-remarks-by-russian-foreign-minister

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The U.S. Helsinki Commission

Helsinki Commission @HelsinkiComm Co-Chairman @RepCohen condemns Lavrov's antisemitic comments, calling them "consistent with the reprehensible, repugnant, and reptilian conduct of Putin's government."
May 3, 2022

[Co-Chairman Cohen Condemns Lavrov's Antisemitic Comments | CSCE

Tuesday, May 03, 2022] https://www.csce.gov/international-impact/press-and-media/press-releases/co-chairman-cohen-condemns-lavrov-s-antisemitic
https://twitter.com/HelsinkiComm/status/1521585138462871553

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[Official account of the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council]
Ambassador Michèle Taylor @USAmbHRC Tweeted:

FM Lavrov's remarks are odious lies, a gross distortion of history, & an attempt to justify Russia's repugnant #humanrights abuses in Ukraine. Russia's shameless rhetoric, particularly when deployed in venues like the HRC, must be condemned by the international community.
https://twitter.com/USAmbHRC/status/1521576147124895751

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Lavrov's ravings must be condemned

Wed, May 4, 2022

Sir, – The recent claim by Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov that Hitler had Jewish blood and that the most ardent anti-Semites are Jews is dangerous Holocaust distortion, made to justify Russia's depravity in Ukraine (World, May 2nd).
By casting Jews as Nazis, Mr Lavrov manages to blame Jews for Russia's current illegal war, explaining that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Jewish identity, and the accusation that the regime in Ukraine is Nazi, are wholly compatible. Lavrov simultaneously lays the fate of the Jews in the Holocaust at their own feet, a classic anti-Semitic trope that portrays the Jew as the global enemy, unworthy even of his own private grief.
Equating Jews with Nazis is a well-worn image, usually promoted by left wing anti-Semites.
Russia has a long history of cultural anti-Semitism: pogrom, the word used to describe organised violence against Jews is a Russian word. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged document describing the plan for Jewish global domination came out of Russia in 1903, a document still beloved of conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites of every hue. Copies are still readily available for sale in many countries.
Mr Lavrov should be condemned internationally for his unconscionable ravings. But more importantly, he and the rest of Putin's henchmen should be reminded that the West finds a way of extinguishing fascism in Europe and the future for those responsible for Russian aggression is unlikely to be bright. These must be the rules in a post-Holocaust world. – Yours, etc,
OLIVER SEARS,
Holocaust Awareness
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/lavrov-s-ravings-must-be-condemned-1.4868298

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[Politician, Meretz (liberal party)]

Roman Bronfman @RomanBronfman Tweeted:

The news of #lavror comparing #Zelensky to Hitler is not surprising. It has it all: the old Soviet anti-Semitism, the rumor about Hitler's Jewish grandfather, but most of all - it has a staff from the situation that has arisen. Soviet leaders have always liberated anti-Semitism in times of distress, in an attempt to find fault with their plight. According to this, the Kremlin is in a panic.
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/RomanBronfman/status/1520992014652817408

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Andrea Mitchell@mitchellreports Tweeted:
On Lavrov's comments on Hitler's heritage, @McFaul:
"We have to stop treating people like him as legitimate figures in diplomacy. You cannot say that kind of utter nonsense, and then sit down and have a normal meeting with Secretary Blinken or anybody else." #AMRstaff
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/status/1521146276280254465

Bianna Golodryga @biannagolodryga Tweeted May 1, 2022:

Sick sick sick..."Sergei Lavrov said the fact that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish does not negate the Nazi element in his country. Lavrov said that Nazi Germany's Chancellor Adolf Hitler also 'had...'
https://twitter.com/biannagolodryga/status/1520861330651205633

The USA Singers @TheUSASingers Tweeted May 1, 2022:

Zelenskyy isn't like Hitler, but Lavrov is like Goebbels.
https://twitter.com/TheUSASingers/status/1520876473732771842

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EUJS - European Union of Jewish Students @EUJS Tweeted:

Shocking and unacceptable: Yet another example of the rhetoric of the Russian war machine amounting to clear Holocaust distortion and outright antisemitism. Russia's continued manipulation of history and Jewish suffering must be called out and condemned.
May 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/EUJS/status/1521106940360859654

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Yad Vashem;
Holocaust Museum;
Holocaust Awareness;
AJC;
US;
Germany;
Canada's President;
Canada's House of Commons;
EU (The European Union);
Italy;
Ukraine;
Israel;
Polish OSCE;
OSCOE & the US Commission to OSCOE;
Czech Republic;
U.S. Helsinki Commission;
Bosnia's Jewish Community (BiH), Former US ambassador to Ukraine;
former US ambassador to the UN;
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council;

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Lavrov's anti-Semitic outburst exposes absurdity of Russia's "Nazi Ukraine" claims

By Peter Dickinson
May 2, 2022
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/lavrovs-anti-semitic-outburst-exposes-absurdity-of-russias-nazi-ukraine-claims/

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Vladimir Putin apologises to Israeli PM over Sergei Lavrov's Hitler comments

By Sam Hall Marcus Parekh and George Styllis
May 5, 2022 — Vladimir Putin has apologised to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for comments made by Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who suggested that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/05/05/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-putin-nuclear-nato-military/

Ukraine: Putin 'apologizes' to Israeli PM over Russia's Holocaust remarks — as it happened

05.05.2022 — Russia's President Vladimir Putin discussed the war in Ukraine with Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett after his foreign minister infuriated Israel with comments about Hitler.
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-putin-apologizes-to-israeli-pm-over-russias-holocaust-remarks-as-it-happened/a-61688699

Putin forced into humiliating apology after minister claims Hitler was Jewish

Ryan Merrifield, 5 May 2022
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/putin-forced-humiliating-apology-after-26886856

Putin in rare apology over Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov's claim Hitler had 'Jewish blood'

By:Jack Mendel
May 6, 2022
https://www.cityam.com/putin-in-rare-apology-over-foreign-minister-sergei-lavrovs-claim-hitler-had-jewish-blood/

Putin apologizes to Israel following Lavrov's Hitler remarks

The apology comes days after Israel accuses Russia of committing 'the lowest level of racism

By Caitlin McFall | Fox News
May 5, 2022
https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-apologizes-israel-lavrov-hitler-remarks.amp

Putin apologizes to Israel for Hitler comments as Zelensky slams Nazi rhetoric

Timothy Bella, Steve Hendrix, Mary Ilyushina, May 5, 2022.

The reported apology came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of using Nazi propaganda and antisemitic tropes to justify the invasion as Russian leaders repeatedly compare Zelensky to Hitler.

During a phone conversation between Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Russian president apologized for remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who recently dismissed Zelensky's Jewish faith by claiming that "Hitler also had [sic] Jewish blood" — a discredited antisemitic claim.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/05/zelensky-russia-ukraine-nazi-hitler-propagands/

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Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews Tweeted:

After Lavrov's hideous antisemitic Nazi remarks, for which Putin had to apologize to Israel, new directives apparently landed at the state TV studios. Now they claim that Nazism doesn't have to be antisemitic and in its new iteration it is [drumroll] anti-Slavic and anti-Russian.

May 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1522403876040855554

(https://i.ibb.co/Fqmrg2T/anti-slavic.png)

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Why Russia thought its 'Nazi' claims would be convincing - analysis

By Seth J. Frantzman
May 3, 2022, Jerusalem Post

Russia has continued to use accusations of fighting "Nazis" to justify its war. It has even gone further now, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claiming that Hitler had "Jewish blood."...

This last aspect of the pernicious claim that Jews are also "Nazis" is part of the latest narrative coming from Moscow. Moscow clearly believes that there are no red lines in terms of this rhetoric. This is a shift from Putin's usual tendency to respect the Jewish community in Russia and also have amicable relations with Israel.

The war with Ukraine has unearthed old ghosts and Russia's tendency to believe its own propaganda about enemies all being "Nazis" has not gone over well. Russia isn't convincing the global south or countries where being a "Nazi" isn't controversial. Russia's propaganda also isn't convincing Russians, it is primarily designed as slander and to convince a few voices in the West.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-705802

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Russia's Lavrov compares Europe to Nazi Germany - The Economic Times

Mar 25, 2022 — Putin has denounced the West's economic "blitzkrieg" and compared the sanctions to "anti-Semitic pogroms carried out by Nazis"
https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/russias-lavrov-compares-europe-to-nazi-germany/articleshow/90444722.cms

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Lavrov admires Nazi Germany at an informal CIS meeting (audio)
09:05 04.05.2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who recently made a number of anti-Semitic statements, openly admires Nazi Germany.

This is indicated by the materials handed over to Guildhall by Ukrainian intelligence.

On the recordings made during Sergei Lavrov's informal communication with representatives of the diplomatic corps of the CIS countries, Lavrov admires the successes of East and West Germany at the Olympic Games and emphasizes that they were the result of a correct doping system based on Nazi developments in concentration camps.

"Then even someone calculated that if you add up (medals - ed.) the FRG and the GDR, then they would be almost the first. A competent doping system was based on Nazi developments from concentration camps, "said Sergey Lavrov.

Below we publish the entire episode of this conversation at a meeting of CIS representatives:

Recall that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov publicly stated that the Jews were supposedly "the most bitter anti-Semites." The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry compared Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, saying that the latter also had Jewish roots.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted to such statements by Sergei Lavrov, saying that "the remarks of Foreign Minister Lavrov are both an unforgivable and scandalous statement, as well as a terrible historical mistake."

We also recall that the Russian team was banned from performing under the national flag and performing the national anthem at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018, in Tokyo in 2020 and in Beijing in 2022 for violating anti-doping rules by Russia.

Doping scandals have accompanied the Russian national team since 2015.

In 2015, the former director of the Anti-Doping Center in Moscow, Grigory Rodchenkov, testified against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. In his testimony, Rodchenkov accused the agency and Russian sports authorities of systemic anti-doping rule violations and concealment of athletes' doping tests. He became one of the main informants of WADA, as a result of investigations of which in 2016 he was removed from the Olympic

[Лавров восхищается нацистской Германией на неформальной встрече СНГ (аудио)

09:05 04.05.2022

Министр иностранных дел России Сергей Лавров, который недавно сделал ряд антисемитских заявлений, открыто восхищается нацистской Германией.
На это указывают материалы, переданные Guildhall украинской разведкой.

На записях, которые сделаны во время неформального общения Сергея Лаврова с представителями дипломатического корпуса стран СНГ, Лавров восхищается успехами Восточной и Западной Германии на Олимпийских играх и подчеркивает, что они стали результатом правильной системы допингов на основании нацистских разработок в концлагерях.
«Тогда даже кто-то подсчитывал, что если сложить (медали – ред.) ФРГ и ГДР, то они бы были чуть-ли не первыми. Грамотная система допинга была на основании нацистских разработок из концлагерей», — заявил Сергей Лавров.]
https://ghall.com.ua/2022/05/04/lavrov-voshishhaetsya-natsistskoj-germaniej-na-neformalnoj-vstreche-sng-audio/

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Russian FM, Hamas leader speak, discuss 'developments' in Jerusalem

By Jerusalem Post Staff
Apr 21, 2022
https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-704799/amp

After Haniyeh-Lavrov call, Hamas delegation jets off to Moscow for meeting with Russian officials

4 May 2022

A Hamas delegation has set out to Moscow to meet with officials in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Hamas-linked Safa News site reports.
The delegation is composed of Hamas officials based outside of Gaza.
Hamas has seen its ties with Russia improve in recent years. Last month, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh held a rare phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/after-haniyeh-lavrov-call-hamas-delegation-jets-off-to-moscow-for-meeting-with-russian-officials/

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War in Ukraine: who is Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, whose objective is to "make fear" his country?

May 9, 2022

Long nicknamed "Mister No" at the UN, Sergei Lavrov perhaps deserves, since the launch of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the nickname of "Mr. Attention". The Russian Foreign Minister is in the front line to relay the Kremlin's propaganda and embellish it with thinly veiled threats towards the countries which arm kyiv and sanction Moscow. In France, part of the general public has undoubtedly discovered it through its alarming statements. As when he warned, at the end of April, against the risk "real" of a Third World War and the use of nuclear weapons.
The image of this very experienced diplomat has been even more tarnished since a statement on Italian television on May 1. "I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood"he argued, after explaining that the Jewish origins of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not exempt him from the accusations of Nazism by which Russia justifies its offensive. "Minister Lavrov's remarks are at once outrageous, unforgivable and a horrific historical error", slammed his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid. While Sergei Lavrov's ministry maintained its position, accusing Israel of "support the neo-Nazi regime in kyiv", this aberrant statement forced Vladimir Putin to apologize to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday, May 5. What is not really in his habits...

Why such excess today? "He is the voice of his master", observes Sylvie Bermann. For her, the Security Council staged by Vladimir Putin three days before the start of the invasion, during which he had humiliated the head of foreign intelligence, summarizes the little choice available to men like Sergei Lavrov: "Either they follow orders or we don't know what can happen to them." A very vertical vision of Russian power confirmed by Jean-Maurice Ripert, predecessor of Sylvie Bermann at the French Embassy in Moscow, from 2013 to 2017: "In the presence of Putin, Lavrov does not open his mouth."

Sergei Lavrov does not seem to have any particular complicity with the Russian president. A career diplomat, he is not part of his close circle of KGB veterans. His longevity as Minister of Foreign Affairs is however unusual: more than eighteen years. "He wants to beat [Andreï] Gromyko", one of his Soviet predecessors who remained in business for twenty-eight years, Vladimir Putin once explained. Present, Jean-Maurice Ripert had perceived a background of mockery towards his faithful servant...
https://westobserver.com/news/europe/war-in-ukraine-who-is-sergei-lavrov-the-russian-foreign-minister-whose-objective-is-to-make-fear-his-country/

Opinion: Let's set the record straight on Lavrov's Hitler comments

Anthony D. Kauders, May 05, 2022

[Editor's Note: (Anthony D. Kauders is professor of modern history at Keele University in the UK, specializing in German-Jewish history. ]

... Whatever Lavrov's intentions, it is important to counter his version of events. There are three issues at stake: first, his depiction of Ukraine; second, his characterization of Hitler; and third, his conception of Jewish (or any other) identity.
Antisemitism is not unknown to modern Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Jews lost their lives after World War I, as antisemitic violence became an "acceptable response to the excesses of Bolshevism." Ukrainians were not alone in perpetrating these crimes: Poles and White Russian troops were equally implicated. Pogroms and mass murder returned with a vengeance two decades later.
Anticipating the re-establishment of an independent state, nationalists in western Ukraine collaborated with the Nazis, sometimes as members of the auxiliary police force, sometimes as concentration camp guards. Again, they were not unique in taking advantage of German advances against the Soviet Union.

Present-day Ukraine has its fair share of right-wing extremism. Militias have attacked anti-fascist demonstrators and municipal politicians, as well as foreign students and Roma. Still, in the country's 2019 parliamentary election, a coalition of far-right parties secured just over 2% of the vote, a figure that pales in comparison with the successes of racists elsewhere in Western and Eastern Europe.
As much as Russian collective memory may have prejudiced Lavrov's depiction of Ukraine, it is evident that so-called "denazification" is merely a pretext to "de-Ukrainize" a territory that, for Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin alike, lacks historical legitimacy.
Hitler was not Jewish. To this day, his paternal grandfather is unknown, which has led some to speculate without any evidence that the dictator's mysterious ancestor may have been Jewish -- and Hitler's antisemitism a form of self-loathing that induced him to exterminate European Jewry.
According to the legend, Adolf's grandmother, Maria Schicklgruber, worked as a cook for the Frankenbergers of Graz, where she was impregnated by a family member, possibly the 19-year-old son. As tales go, this one is especially fantastic. There is no evidence that Maria ever worked or lived in Graz. There is no proof that a Frankenberger family resided there. And there is certainly no documentation of a Jewish Frankenberger household in Graz.
Indeed, Jews had been expelled from the city in the fifteenth century, only to be allowed to return decades after the alleged Schicklgruber-Frankenberger affair. The source of the legend should have raised eyebrows at the outset.
Hans Frank, the notorious Governor-General of Nazi-occupied Polish territory, concocted the story as part of his memoirs while awaiting execution in Nuremberg. The fabrication included so many other factual errors that no serious historian has ever considered Frank's record reliable.

Such falsehoods aside, the most interesting aspect of Lavrov's polemic relates to his throwaway comments about Zelensky. On the one hand, Russia's foreign minister is right: the President's Jewish ancestry says nothing about the extent to which Ukrainians harbor certain views. Zelensky did not run for president in the name of the Jewish people. Ukrainians elected him for several reasons, his ethnicity playing a marginal role at best. For all we know, some voted for him despite his Jewish background.

To take another well-known example: Bruno Kreisky, born to Jewish parents in 1911, served as Austrian chancellor from 1970 to 1983, at a time of exceptionally high levels of antisemitism in the country. Neither did "Jewishness" determine Kreisky's politics in any significant manner nor did it predict his supporters' political preferences. The recent French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour is a further case in point. Zelensky, Kreisky, and Zemmour, in other words, happen to be Jews, but nothing automatically follows from this fact.
On the other hand, Lavrov is patently wrong, contradicting his own principle by maintaining that many antisemites were Jews. According to this logic, Zelensky's Jewish origins are irrelevant as far as Ukrainian politics is concerned yet quite germane as far as antisemitic sentiments are concerned. We do not know whom the Russian foreign minister had in mind when he referred to Jewish antisemites -- apart from the non-Jewish Hitler.
What we do know, however, is that Lavrov's comments are a familiar rhetorical device in the arsenal of Jew-baiters then and now. Antisemites have always found it helpful to quote from the odd Jew unhappy with their genealogy or to exploit Biblical passages in an effort to document Jewish malevolence.
Russia's foreign minister may have been aware of this tradition when he said the things he did. He may have even been aware of the inconsistencies in the passages cited above. After all, Russian propaganda today is all about spreading falsehoods and misrepresentations, so much so that lack of commitment to consistency is the only reliable feature of Moscow's communications at the present time.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/05/05/opinions/sergey-lavrov-hitler-comments-ukraine-kauders/index.html

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Russia's Unhinged Foreign Minister Miscalculates Badly

Sergyi Lavrov expresses anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that might be the tipping point for Israel.

Fri May 6, 2022

Ari Lieberman

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Israel has tried desperately to maintain a delicate balancing act, expressing sympathy for Ukraine while avoiding offending Russia. As such, Israel has condemned the Russian invasion but has avoided sending Ukraine military equipment such as the Iron Dome anti-rocket system and the Spike NLOS, anti-tank guided missile.
This policy stems from the fact that Russia sits right on Israel's doorstep, maintaining vast air and naval facilities in Syria. These facilities are protected by Russia's most advanced air-defense platforms. Russia's military presence in Syria was no accident but was facilitated by the leadership void created by Barack Obama following Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people. America stepped aside allowing Russia, as well as Iran and its proxies to move in.
Israel could not permit Iran to open a second front opposite the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Moreover, Israel wished to prevent Iranian arms smuggling efforts transiting through Syria into Lebanon. To that end, Israel embarked on a relentless military effort to blunt Iranian expansionist designs. But Israel needed Russian cooperation since Russia was recognized as the main powerbroker in Syria.
Israel already maintained good ties with Russia, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his successor, Naftali Bennett, worked with Putin to ensure that Israel had freedom of action in Syria. Israel and Russia worked out a deconfliction mechanism to avoid clashes and the system worked rather well.
But Russia's invasion of Ukraine threw a giant wrench into the vast gears of geo-political, backchannel dealing. America pressured Israel to take a firmer line against Moscow. Russia pressured Israel to maintain neutrality. Kyiv asked Jerusalem for military assistance, including Iron Dome batteries. Aside from Russia's presence in Syria, Israel had to concern itself with the safety of the Jewish populations of both countries. In addition, Israeli neutrality served a useful purpose in that it enabled the Jewish State to be an impartial interlocutor, trusted by both parties to facilitate negotiations in a neutral venue.
Up until recently, Israel limited its assistance to Ukraine to humanitarian needs, including the setting up of a first-class field hospital in western Ukraine, the first nation to do so. But revelations of Russian atrocities and war crimes in areas previously occupied by Russian forces and recently liberated the Ukrainian Army changed the political dynamic in Israel. The policy of neutrality was fast fading in favor of a stronger anti-Russian approach. Indeed, it was recently announced by Israel's defense minister, Benny Gantz, that Israel is currently supplying Ukraine with ballistic helmets and flak jackets, and that jerusalem was open to the idea of sending Ukraine defensive armaments, though specifically excluding Iron Dome.
But this past Sunday, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, while interviewed on Italian media expressed the long debunked, anti-Semitic view that Hitler had "Jewish blood." Lavrov was attempting to make the point that although Ukraine's president Zelensky was Jewish, it did not negate the fact that he was aiding and abetting Nazis.
Anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers have long asserted that Hitler had Jewish origins in an effort to exonerate the Nazis for committing mass murder. In its basest form, their augment is that it was the Jews who perpetrated genocide on themselves. In his interview, Lavrov was attempting to revive a debunked conspiracy theory and his statements provoked instant Israeli and international condemnation. Israel's foreign ministry, headed by Yair Lapid, has generally adopted a much tougher approach toward Russia, employing harsher rhetoric than the prime minister's office. However, on this occasion, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid spoke with one voice and demanded an immediate Russian apology and retraction.
Clearly, Lavrov had crossed all red lines of decency. But rather than apologizing, the Russians doubled down on their claim, asserting that Jews cooperated with Nazis during WWII and that Israel was currently assisting neo-Nazis in Ukraine. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry claimed that "Israeli mercenaries are practically shoulder to shoulder with Azov militants in Ukraine." The Azov Battalion was a far-right battalion formed in 2014 to battle Russian separatists in Donbas. They were incorporated into the Ukrainian Army.
True, there are ex-Israeli soldiers who are fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, but their numbers are small, perhaps several dozen, hardly enough to make any meaningful impact on the battlefield. It appears that the Russian claim was designed to further inflame tensions with Jerusalem, and it's succeeding.
In late April, Israel, along with other major U.S. allies, was invited by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to partake in an extraordinary conference in Ramstein Germany. Dubbed "The Ukraine Defense Consultative Group," the Ramstein Conference's goal was to enhance Ukraine's military defenses while further isolating Russia. The group will continue convening once a month. Israel's participation did not go unnoticed by the Russians.
Despite Russia's presence on Israel's borders and its ability to hamper Israeli freedom of action, Israel should consider that its long-term strategic interests lie with the United States. Moreover, Russia's callous revival of debunked, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories clearly demonstrate the presence of an unhinged regime. Finally, Russia has never offered Israel any political support in international forums, always siding with despots against Israel. As such, Israel should consider loosening its policy regarding weapons for Ukraine.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/russias-unhinged-foreign-minister-miscalculates-ari-lieberman

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The one and only "source" for explicitly claiming that the Kremlin "denied" the apology is the pro-Iran Hezbollah-Pestinian mouthpiece Al-Mayaeen broacmcasting from Lebanon. And its malicious reasons need no elaboration.

Newsweek (May 6, 2022) does not quote an explicit denial. Ommition is not an explicit denial.

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