Rajoub lies to Palestinians: "I did not mention the word sovereignty" re. the Western Wall
Rajoub lies to Palestinians:
"I did not mention the word sovereignty"
re. the Western Wall
re. the Western Wall
[Facebook page of Jibril Rajoub, June 4, 2017]
... after saying to Israelis:
"The Western Wall...
in the end it has to be under Jewish sovereignty.
We have no argument with that"
[Israeli TV Channel 2, June 3, 2017]
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
On Saturday, Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub gave an interview in Hebrew to Israeli TV Channel 2. Rajoub stated that Palestinians understand that the Western Wall is "holy for the Jews," and that it should be "under Jewish sovereignty... We have no argument with that."
However, addressing Palestinians in Arabic, Rajoub denies having made this statement. Rather, he claims to have said that the site should be "under Jewish religious supervision," and wrote explicitly on his personal Facebook page: "I did not mention the word sovereignty or Israel." He also accused Israeli TV of editing out parts of the interview with him.
Rajoub in Hebrew to Israelis:
Rajoub: "When [US President Trump] came, he went to the Western Wall, and we understand that it is a holy site for the Jews, and in the end it has to be under Jewish sovereignty. We have no argument with that."
Israeli TV interviewer Rina Matsliah: "That the Western Wall will remain under Jewish sovereignty?"
Rajoub: "Yes, of course. It is a holy site for the Jews."
[Israeli TV Channel 2, June 3, 2017]
Rajoub in Arabic to Palestinians:
"Several hostile news websites and writers for hire have reported that I renounced the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., Western Wall) or Jerusalem in a TV interview in Hebrew. What I said was that when [US President Donald] Trump visited the Al-Buraq Wall, which is holy to the Jews, he did not agree that any Israeli would accompany him, and that this constitutes a message that he does not recognize the legitimacy of your [Israel's] sovereignty over the site. That is all that I said on [Israeli TV] Channel 2, and I did not mention the word sovereignty or Israel at all. Those were my words, as I said them. Ignore the dogs, because despite the barking, the convoy will definitely pass."
[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub,
June 4, 2017, emphasis added]
Rajoub: "... It was a long interview [on Israeli TV], 36 minutes of which they released 12 minutes, and it is clear that several of the central points [were cut] in editing... [I said on Israeli TV]: 'When he [Trump] went to the Wailing Wall, he went alone, and did not agree that any one of you [Israelis] would come. That's also a message to you, even though it's holy to you.' [Israeli interviewer Rina Matsliah] asked: 'Will you agree to Israeli sovereignty [there]?' I told her: 'No way. If Trump doesn't recognize your sovereignty there, I'm supposed to agree?' Of course this part - "
PA TV host: "Was left out..."
Rajoub: "What I said is: 'Jewish religious supervision.' I am issuing a challenge, even in the transcript, is it written that I said 'Israeli sovereignty.'"
Rajoub: "What I said is: 'Jewish religious supervision.' I am issuing a challenge, even in the transcript, is it written that I said 'Israeli sovereignty.'"
[Official PA TV, June 5, 2017]
The contradiction between the compromising statements by Rajoub in Hebrew to Israelis and his uncompromising statements in Arabic to Palestinians is yet another example of the duplicity of the Palestinian leadership. Rajoub's statement to Israelis was reported widely in the Israeli press as well as the international press. Palestinian Media Watch has urged the Israeli and international press to always verify anything told to them by Palestinian Authority leaders with what PMW has reported to be their authentic opinions expressed in Arabic to their own people. See PMW's book Deception for extensive documentation of the Palestinian Authority's policy of deception.
PMW has reported extensively on Rajoub's statements promoting violence and glorifying terror and his denial of Israel's right to exist.
The following is Rajoub's post in Arabic on Facebook, denying he said the Western Wall should be "under Jewish sovereignty":
Text posted on the Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub:
Posted text: "In the name of Allah the Merciful,
'O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful' (Quran, Sura 49:6, Sahih International translation). Allah spoke the truth.
Several hostile news websites and writers for hire have reported that I renounced the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) or Jerusalem in a TV interview in Hebrew. What I said was that when [US President Donald] Trump visited the Al-Buraq Wall, which is holy to the Jews, he did not agree that any Israeli would accompany him (sic., Western Wall Chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz accompanied him), and that this constitutes a message that he does not recognize the legitimacy of your (i.e., Israel's) sovereignty over the site. That is all that I said on [Israeli TV] Channel 2, and I did not mention the word sovereignty or Israel at all (sic., Rajoub said the Western Wall will remain under "Jewish sovereignty," see note below). Those were my words, as I said them. Ignore the dogs, because despite the barking, the convoy will definitely pass."
[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub,
June 4, 2017]
June 4, 2017]
The Al-Buraq Wall - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have rode during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."
Official PA TV interviewed Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub about his interview with Israeli TV Channel 2 on June 3, 2017, in which he said the Western Wall will remain "under Jewish sovereignty"
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: "We believe - and I also believe this and it is a decision that has passed all of the frameworks of [Palestinian] leadership, in [Yasser] Arafat's period and also today - that East Jerusalem will be under the full sovereignty of the Palestinians to the last centimeter, and our capital will be East Jerusalem, although Jerusalem will be open to all of the religions. We believe that there are three religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - and there will be freedom of worship. Now there is a discussion on the matter. I tell you, sir, it was a long interview [on Israeli TV], 36 minutes of which they released 12 minutes, and it is clear that several of the central points [were cut] in editing... I'm not saying that they falsified. I said what I said. However, there was a question [that did not appear]. She (i.e., interviewer Rina Mazliah) asked me about the [US] embassy which was not transferred [to Jerusalem], and I said that 'this is a message to you (i.e., the Israelis) that this man (i.e., US President Donald Trump) is not in the pocket of your right-wing, and a message to us that even though he did not mention the right to self-determination and two states, there is a message here [of support for the Palestinians]. The second issue is that When he [Trump] went to the Wailing Wall, he went alone, and did not agree that any one of you [Israelis] would come (sic., Western Wall Chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz accompanied him). That's also a message to you, even though it's holy to you.' She [interviewer Rina Mazliah] asked: 'Will you agree to Israeli sovereignty [there]?' I told her: 'No way. If Trump doesn't recognize your sovereignty there, I'm supposed to agree?' Of course this part - "
PA TV host: "Was left out..."
PA TV host: "Was left out..."
Jibril Rajoub: "Her question [did not appear], but my response clearly says that he went alone. [She then asked:] 'Okay, so what about the Temple Mount?' When they say the Temple Mount, they mean the Al-Aqsa Mosque and [its] plazas and the Al-Buraq [Wall] (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount). I told her: 'Don't talk about this matter, unless you want to cause an explosion. This is a status quo that has existed since 1967, and [former Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe] Dayan agreed to it.' They pray at the Western Wall, and do not pray on the mount or approach the mount, and the Waqf is managing it'...
The city [of Jerusalem] will be open, and I say to you there will be freedom of worship.
What I said is: 'Jewish religious supervision.' I am issuing a challenge, even in the transcript, is it written that I said 'Israeli sovereignty,' even in the written text that was published, or that I mentioned the word 'Israel' (in the filmed interview Rajoub clearly says 'Jewish sovereignty' in Hebrew -Ed.). She tried to ask me twice, and I answered her."
[Official PA TV, June 5, 2017]
Excerpt from Rajoub's interview in Hebrew on Israeli TV Channel 2 about the meeting between US President Donald Trump and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on May 23, 2017.
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: "When [US President Trump] came, he went to the Western Wall, and we understand that it is a holy site for the Jews, and in the end it has to be under Jewish sovereignty. We have no argument with that."
Channel 2 host Rina Matsliah: "That the Western Wall will remain under Jewish sovereignty?"
Jibril Rajoub: "Yes, of course. It is a holy site for the Jews. So he [Trump] went alone -"
Rina Matsliah: "And no [sovereignty] over the Temple Mount."
Jibril Rajoub: "Listen, the Temple Mount is ours, OK? It is not yours. And I think you will stop talking like this. Something, a status quo that has been in place since 1967, which [former Israeli Minister of Defense] Moshe Dayan determined - I think that the two of us need to honor it. But if you want to make an explosion, then say 'This is ours and this is ours...' I say something else, OK?"
[Israeli TV Channel 2, June 3, 2017]
Jibril Rajoub also holds the following positions: Head of the PLO Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).