OBAMA: Mr. President, did you know that you Palestinians are descended from Jews?
ABBAS: No, Mr. President. I had not heard that.
OBAMA: Oh yes. After the Arab Conquest, many Jews converted to Islam and were assimilated.
ABBAS: I am not a racist. I don’t mind hearing that.
OBAMA: Good. I have sothing else to say, Mr. President. The story of the Jewish exile from Judea after the Destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. was a myth promoted by early Christians to recruit Jews to the new faith. They portrayed that event as a divine punishment imposed on the Jews for having rejected the Christian gospel.
ABBAS: And what about our exile, Mr. President?
President Obama’s answer has not been recorded.
Source: Shlomo Sand, “The Invention of the Jewish People”
