Abbas: Israel "is a colonialist project that has no connection to Judaism... The Jews were used as pawns"

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in a speech to PLO Central Council: "Egyptian intellectual Abd Al-Wahab Al-Masiri, one of the most important writers on the Zionist movement and Judaism... He described this entity as following: 'The functional nature of Israel is that colonialism created it in order to fill a specific role. It is a colonialist project that has no connection to Judaism.' It has no connection to Judaism, but the Jews were used as pawns and they were [made pawns] by way of slogans such as 'the Promised Land,' and 'the Beloved Homeland.' These slogans were invented for them, and they were brought here." [Official PA TV, Jan. 14, 2018]