May 28, 2009.
“Jerusalem is the religious, political and spiritual capital of Palestine – the Jews
have no right to it.”
The erasure and denial of 3,000 years of Jewish history in Jerusalem is integral
to Palestinian ideology. Accordingly, Israel and Jews are said to have “no
rights” to Jerusalem, and any contemporary manifestation of Jewish life and
development there is labeled by the Palestinian Authority as “Judaization.”
Jerusalem is presented as an exclusively Muslim and Christian city, with no
regard for historical reality. Beyond this historical revisionism, the PA
disseminates the libel that Israel is acting to expel Arabs from Jerusalem in
order to further “Judaize” the city.
>Fabrications include PA accusations of Israeli destruction of Islamic and
Christian sites, and repeated use of PA hate language, including references to a
“criminal cultural massacre” to chase Arab inhabitants away. The Jerusalem
libel is designed to evoke religious hatred by portraying Israel and the Jews as
the enemy of, and threat to, Arabs and Islam.
This study by Palestinian Media Watch documents the recent intensification of
the Palestinian Authority’s campaign of distortion, historical revision and hate
incitement about Jerusalem, and denial of its integral attachment to the Jewish
nation and history.
- Denial of the Jewish Connection to the City of Jerusalem “The
archaeological treasures in Jerusalem emphasize the depth of the city’s heritage
and history; they emphasize its Arabness and refute the Israeli claims that it is a
Jewish city… It is known that perhaps under every stone and in every corner,
on every street and at every turn in Jerusalem there are relics. These relics say,
‘We are Arab, we are Muslim, we are Christian.”“They base themselves on myths and invoke the Jewish religion and
Jewish faith, despite the fact that the truly religious Jews truly believe – and
they have stated this on more than one occasion – that the Temple was never in
the Holy City , and was absolutely never on the site of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque.”“They have wept tears and cried over the western wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque
out of an illusion and forgery that it is a relic of the wall of the alleged Temple…
They place notes between the stones and dream of the day when they will
approach closer, into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and plan
to build the alleged Temple.”“criticized
the use of the term ‘Wailing Wall’ instead of ‘Western Wall’ , and
stated that the occupation falsifies the facts, and has no rights over the walls of
Al-Aqsa mosque, to use them as a site for mourning.”Dr. Tayseer Al-Tamimi, PA Chief Justice of religious court, and Chairman of
Supreme Council of Islamic Law:“Jerusalem is the religious, political and spiritual capital of Palestine – the
Jews have no rights to it.”“We do not agree with the biblical version, according to which was
a mighty kingdom, or the capital of a mighty kingdom. No palace has been
discovered, nor have any remnants of the First Temple – built in Solomon’s time
– been found, testifying to this greatness… The Hebrews arrived in Jerusalem
during the first millennium B.C.E., but their rule in Jerusalem lasted only for a
short time… To date one cannot point to any element in Jerusalem that is
related, historically speaking, to that period, or any element that is historically
related to the Hebrew culture.”“It is the meeting point of a number of archaeological sites, by
means of which the Israeli establishment is trying to raise an imaginary Hebrew
history.”“ who authored a
book entitled, ‘Jerusalem – City of Allah’, has reviewed the Israeli claims
concerning the history of the Jewish presence in Palestine and in Jerusalem,
and has disproved them historically and linguistically, their
falsification of the facts. He pointed out the inaccuracy of the widespread view
that the Palestinians originated with a group of people who emigrated from the
Greek and settled in Palestine, affirming instead that the Palestinians are
Arab Canaanites indigenous to this land.”“They dug the Western Wall tunnel… and at the heart of the tunnel they
inaugurated a new synagogue, the closest – according to their illusion – to the
Holy of Holies of the alleged Temple.”“Israel seeks to create religious and historical legitimacy for itself in Jerusalem
and to justify its acts of judaization, with a clear distortion of history.” - Hate libels: Israel plans destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and
Judaization of Jerusalem; PA alarmist campaign to promote fear and hate. Since
Jews are said to have no connection to Jerusalem, nor any right to live in the
city, any Israeli action in Jerusalem is defined as “Judaization” and an attempt
to erase the city’s supposedly authentic Islamic Arab character. The PA has
launched an incendiary libel campaign which presents as fact the lie that Israel
is working to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to expel Arabs from the city.The claim that Israel is pursuing a policy of ridding Jerusalem of its Arab
inhabitants is blatantly untrue. In fact, according to May 2009 statistics
released by the Jerusalem Center for Israel Studies, since the liberation of east
Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, Jerusalem’s population has increased by
186%, with the Arab population of east Jerusalem growing by 291%, almost
twice the growth rate of the Jewish population.Palestinian Authority Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein:
“There are plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque both directly
and indirectly. For instance, use of explosives, aerial or long-distance bombing,
digging at the foundations and the walls of the mosque. By means of the
tunnels they are trying to cause a natural earthquake.”“Nation of Islam: Awaken! The Al-Aqsa mosque is being threatened, a tunnel is
being dug underneath, the so-called ‘Temple’ is being renewed.”Dr. Tayseer Al-Tamimi, PA Chief Justice of religious court, and Chairman of
Supreme Council of Islamic Law:“The occupation government is determined to erase the Arab and Islamic
characteristics of the Holy City and to carry out a criminal cultural massacre
against the city’s human and cultural heritage.”“This occupation , which is robbing us of our geography, robbing us of
our history, and robbing us of our heritage, is trying to Judaize our city
.”Dr. Tayseer Al-Tamimi, PA Chief Justice of religious court, and Chairman of
Supreme Council of Islamic Law:“The number of Israeli tunnels and their scope is growing daily under the
Al-Aqsa mosque and in its environs and… the constant breakdowns of the
roads and the walls emphasize that is subject to a plot that threatens
its structure and its identity, with the aim of destroying it and establishing on its
ruins the alleged Jewish Temple.”“The Israeli leadership is hastening its steps to Judaize Jerusalem, the eternal
capital of the Palestinian state, with the aim of abolishing the city’s Arab
identity and changing its characteristic landmarks.”“The Popular Fighting Front in the Jerusalem region emphasized that the plans
of the occupation government, which aspires to double the number of settlers
in Jerusalem and in the West Bank… This is one of the fruits of the new
fanaticism, racism and Nazism.”“When we look at the Palestinian map these days, we cannot avoid turning our
gaze directly towards Jerusalem and the suffering that this city is experiencing:
the attempts at Judaization, with the aim of blurring its characteristics,
changing its identity.”“addressed the
subject of ‘Jerusalem, capital of Arab culture’, the characteristics of the Jews –
their lies and their sadism.”“It is possible that there will be an artificial earthquake. Some time ago the
Israelis had the idea of carrying out a nuclear test in the Dead Sea. That would
be an artificial earthquake .” - Jerusalem and all of Israel are defined as land of “Ribat”
A Palestinian Authority schoolbook defines Ribat:
“The Ribat for Allah is one of the actions related to Jihad …The
persistence of Palestine’s people on their land in these days , and
their persistence against the damage and the aggression they endure – is one of
the greatest of the Ribat , and they are worthy of a
great reward from Allah…. they are found in Ribat until Resurrection. ”In recent months, Palestinian leaders have frequently defined all of Israel, and
particularly Jerusalem, as land of “Ribat” – i.e., areas which Muslims have a
religious obligation to defend and liberate for Islam. In the past, it was
specifically Hamas that defined the conflict with Israel as a religious war. Now,
the PA – Fatah leadership likewise openly presents its war against Israel as a
religious battle for Islam.“Ribat unites us as Muslims and as Palestinian Arabs with Jerusalem, and with
its holy and with the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is ongoing Ribat which cannot
be halted even for a second.”Sheikh Ali Abu-Shaykha, member of the Jerusalem People’s Council for
“Jerusalem, Capital of Arab Culture 2009” events:“The purpose of the festival is for our children to depict the suffering of
the Al-Aqsa mosque… In addition, this activity is an activity of Ribat and
protection of the Al-Aqsa mosque, in the shadow of the campaign of
Judaization and the invasion of the Al-Aqsa mosque that are being undertaken
by Jewish associations and organizations.”[“First Drawing Competition of Lovers of Al-Aqsa” – Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
April 21, 2009]“Our fundamental task – and this must be clear to all – is the continuation of
Ribat upon the land of Jerusalem, upon the land of Palestine; a continuation of
Ribat, striking roots in this land.”“This nation is a nation of Murabitun , whose fundamental
obligation is to protect the Ribat .”Naseen Arabi speaks in the name of the Al-Aqsa Youth:
“The Al-Aqsa mosque has been placed at the center of the Israeli target,
with all its plazas and domes and walls. The names and the sites have been
falsified, such that the ‘Al-Burak Wall’ has forcibly and falsely
become the ‘Wall of Tears’ , and the Al-Aqsa plazas have become
a pilgrimage site for tourists. Under it there is an empty space, and above it an
empty space, and a voice is heard there – the voice of the Murabitin who hold onto it day and night, to protect it.”[“First Drawing Competition of Lovers of Al-Aqsa” – Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
April 21, 2009]
