The Simon Wiesenthal Center lashed out on Tuesday at what it described as "vitriolic anti-Semitic incitement" broadcast by media controlled by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
In a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the center called on Israel to press for an end to the incitement as well as physical violence against Israelis during the wave of unrest in the Palestinian territories over the past two months
"As an international organization which has combated anti-Semitism for many years we view the use of Holocaust denial by the Palestinian Authority-controlled media with grave concern," the center’s Israel director Efraim Zuroff wrote.
"Such broadcasts only deepen the hostility and the hatred toward Israel and therefore it is absolutely critical not only to raise the issue of incitement at the negotiating table but to insist that the Palestinian Authority immediately stop the use of these disgusting lies in all media outlets."
Zuroff, whose organization fights anti-Semitism around the world, denounced in particular remarks by a lecturer at the Islamic university in Gaza during a broadcast marking the anniversary of the 1947 UN decision to partition Palestine.
Zuroff quoted Issam Sissalem as denying the Holocaust and claiming the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz, Dachau and Chelmnoi were "disinfection sites."
The center, named after famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, has reported more than 200 anti-Semitic acts since the start of clashes in the Palestinian territories and Israel on September 28.
The vast majority of cases involved destruction at synagogues or Jewish properties such as stores, or incidents of intimidation or aggression against Jews -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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