CNN's
Wolf Blitzer on Monday called out Hamas' chief spokesman over recent comments he made on Middle Eastern TV saying Jews have used the blood of Christians to make matzo for Passover.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan has appeared regularly on CNN, and Blitzer brought the comments up after asking Hamdan about Tuesday's
scheduled temporary ceasefire.
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"I want you to explain what you said, because it's very disturbing," Blitzer said, before reading off an English translation of Hamdan's comments:
"We all remember how the Jews used to slaughter Christians in order to mix their blood with their holy matzos," Hamdan said in the previous interview. "This is not a figment of the imagination or something taken from a film. It is a fact acknowledged by their own books and historical evidence."
"You believe that Jews could kill Christians to mix their blood to bake their holy matzos for Passover? Is that your belief, Mr. Hamdan?"
Hamdan never denied making the statement, and tried to persuade Blitzer not to play video of him saying it in Arabic.
"Wolf, Wolf, I know what I've said. Wolf, Wolf, I know ..." Hamdan told Blitzer.
He argued that he was responding to a question about Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset Moshe Feiglin calling for the "complete destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza," and concentration camps for Palestinians in Gaza.
"He's talking about genocide" and "covering" it with propaganda, Hamdan said.
Pressed by Blitzer about his own comments, Hamdan insisted, "We don't have problems with the Jews, and we believe everyone has the right to choose their religion."
In fact, he said, Jews have been accepted since the Middle Ages and are still considered "normal citizens" in many Muslim countries.
The problem, Hamdan said, is "we don't accept occupation. We will fight occupation regardless of religion or race, even if it is Muslims. We will resist occupation, and they can't hide against being Jews."
Hamdan said it is people like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Feiglin, and other high-ranking Israeli officials who are the "new Nazis of this century.
Blitzer said: "I was hoping to get a flat denial from you that you would utter such ridiculous words that Jews would kill Christians to mix their blood" to make matzo, Blitzer said.
At that, Hamdan said he was only repeating what members of the Christian church had said over the years.
The accusation that Jews used the blood of Christian children to make matzo is known as "blood libel" and has been used since medieval times to justify the persecution of Jews.
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