PA: Jews have no history in "Palestine"
- Trump's decision on Jerusalem "aligned with the false Zionist narrative... Israeli archaeologists have searched for the last 70 years and have not found a single archaeological remnant related to the...Temple or... to Jews in Palestine in general"
[Columnist in official PA daily]
- PA TV: There is "no documentation" the Western Wall was ever a "place of worship" for Jews before the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917l
- Abbas' advisor: "[The Jews have] no connection to this land, not religiously or historically"l
- PA minister: "Israel's claims regarding the finding of Jewish antiquities are a clear falsification of the city [of Jerusalem's] history"
- PLO official: Jewish historical ties to the land are "a Zionist invention;"
Jews are in "Palestine" only because "Europe wanted to get rid of them"
- PA TV: "The Judaization of Jerusalem ... [is the] attempts... to erase the Arab Islamic identity and change the Arab Islamic characteristics... of Jerusalem and to stamp it with a new fictional character that is called the Jewish character"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The Palestinian Authority is basing its rejection of US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on the PA's fundamental falsification of history, claiming that Jews have no historical connection to the land of Israel or Jerusalem.
Responding to the American formal recognition on Dec. 6, 2017, a columnist in the official PA daily wrote that Trump had "aligned with the false Zionist narrative," when he said Jerusalem had been the capital of the Jewish people "since ancient times":
Responding to the American formal recognition on Dec. 6, 2017, a columnist in the official PA daily wrote that Trump had "aligned with the false Zionist narrative," when he said Jerusalem had been the capital of the Jewish people "since ancient times":
Headline: "Refuting the lies [about] reality"
"As part of his excuses that are unfounded and contrary to reality, [US President] Donald Trump claimed that he did nothing but recognize the reality in Jerusalem (i.e., by recognizing it as Israel's capital)... He contradicted history when he claimed that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel and the Jews for 3,000 years.
It is not the intention to examine the falsification of history and ignorance [in Trump's claim], or the alignment with the false Zionist narrative, because that is as clear as the sun. If Trump wants to know the truth, he can turn to the Israeli archaeologists who have searched for the last 70 years and have not found a single archaeological remnant related to the third Temple (sic., no third Temple has ever been built, and numerous evidence of the previous two Temples has been found -Ed.), or even other archaeological remnants that are connected to Jews in Palestine in general (sic., such archaeological evidence is abundant -Ed.)"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, from op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, Dec. 9, 2017]
This denial of Jewish history in the land of Israel even in the face of irrefutable archaeological evidence is one of the most central parts of the Palestinian narrative.
A PLO official recently reiterated the claim that Jewish historical ties to the land are "a Zionist invention," claiming Jews are in "Palestine" because "Europe wanted to get rid of them," and that Britain supported Zionism because it wanted a colony in the Middle East:
PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Rafat: "There are deep Palestinian roots in Palestine throughout all of history. It is a Zionist invention that this is the land of the Jewish patriarchs. This is completely incorrect. There were Jews in Palestine... We have Muslims, Christians, and Jews. But all of them were and still are [part of] the Palestinian people... The Khazar Jews were brought and expelled from Europe to Palestine, in order to get rid of them. Germany wanted to get rid of them, [as did] Britain, France, and Italy. All of Europe wanted to get rid of the Jews so that the West would have a permanent base in the Middle East. Indeed, they established the State of Israel on the land of historical Palestine."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Nov. 15, 2017]
A narrator on official PA TV claimed that all of the Temple Mount "belongs to Muslims," denying the Western Wall was ever a "place of worship" for Jews before the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which expressed Britain's support for creating "a national home for the Jews in Palestine":
Official PA TV narrator: "The accepted status is that this [the Al-Aqsa Mosque] is a mosque that belongs only to the Muslims, including all that is in it such as the buildings, the plazas within it, the areas around it, and all that is connected to it outside of it... There is no documentation that the Jews made the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall) a place of worship at any time, except after the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) of 1917."
[Official PA TV, The TV Lexicon, March 15, 2017]
Supreme Shari'ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas' advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash reiterated the claim that Jews have no connection to "Palestine" in a sermon he gave on the "ugly injustice and ugly crime" - the Balfour Declaration:
"One with no ownership of this land - Foreign Secretary [Arthur Balfour] of Britain which occupied Palestine while having no ownership of any part of Palestine, not even one millimeter or one grain of sand - gave a promise to one undeserving who has no connection to this land, not religiously or historically, at the expense of the Palestinian people... They [Britain] have no ownership and they have no right, and those to whom they made the promise [the Jews] have no right to it... Balfour and Britain committed this crime at our expense and at the expense of our history and rights, and this is not consistent with reason, religion, law, and morals."
[Official PA TV, Oct. 20, 2017]
Another PA TV broadcast repeated the libel that Israel imposes a "fictional Jewish character" on Jerusalem through "Judaization":
Official PA TV narrator: "The Judaization of Jerusalem - a concept meaning all of the Israeli occupation's attempts... to erase the Arab Islamic identity and change the Arab Islamic characteristics that represent the true cultural face of the occupied Arab city of Jerusalem, and to stamp it with a new fictional character that is called the Jewish character... History does not recall that any city has been subjected to attempts to erase and change its characteristics, identity, and history through forgery,alteration, manipulation, and false claims in the way that the city of Jerusalem is subject to them."
[Official PA TV, The TV Lexicon, March 23, 2017]
PA Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Governor of the Jerusalem District Adnan Al-Husseini likewise stated that there are no Jewish artifacts in Jerusalem:
"Most of the antiquities that have been found in these excavations [in Jerusalem] are antiquities from the Islamic culture in its different periods - along with Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad antiquities - and Israel's claims regarding the finding of Jewish antiquities are a clear falsification of the city [of Jerusalem's] history."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 5, 2017]
The Palestinian narrative that Jews are only in "Palestine" because Europe could not stand them has been documented by PMW in the past. A documentary broadcast a number of times on official PA TV and Fatah's Awdah TV similarly states that Europe was fed up with the Jews, and saw the Balfour Declaration as an "ideal solution to get rid of them":
"Faced with the Jews' schemes, Europe could not bear their character traits, monopolies, corruption, and their control and climbing up positions in government. In 1290, King Edward I issued a decree banishing the Jews [from England]. Following him were France, Germany, Austria, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Spain and Italy. The European nations felt that they had suffered a tragedy by providing refuge for the Jews. Later the Jews obtained the Balfour Declaration, and Europe saw it as an ideal solution to get rid of them."
[Official PA TV, Jan. 1, 2013, Nov. 11, 2014, Dec. 31, 2015, and Jan. 3, 2016;
Fatah-run Awdah TV, Feb. 18, 2015]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented numerous statements by Palestinian leaders and officials who claim Jewish history in the area and in Jerusalem in particular is a "forgery," and proof to the contrary is said to be Israel's "Judaization" of Arab Islamic characteristics. Whenever any Jewish artifacts are found, this is either completely denied or described as "heritage theft." Israel is a "colonialist implant" in "Palestine" with no historical justification.
Read Palestinian statements on the Balfour Declaration and PMW's analysis of why the PA would have had to invent it had the Balfour Declaration not existed.
The following are longer excerpts of the reports above:
Official PA TV narrator: "The term 'the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque' (i.e., the Temple Mount) means the historical status, in other words the natural status as was accepted and continued throughout the previous historical periods. This status is unchangeable. The accepted status is that this is a mosque that belongs only to the Muslims, including all that is in it such as the buildings, the plazas within it, the areas around it, and all that is connected to it outside of it... There is no documentation that the Jews made the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall) a place of worship at any time, except after the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) of 1917."
[Official PA TV, The TV Lexicon, March 15, 2017]
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 in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.
Caption: "The Judaization of Jerusalem"
Official PA TV narrator: "The Judaization of Jerusalem - a concept meaning all of the Israeli occupation's attempts whose goal is to erase the Arab Islamic identity and change the Arab and Islamic characteristics that represent the true cultural face of the occupied Arab city of Jerusalem, and to stamp it with a new fictional character that is called the Jewish character through the Israeli occupation. History does not recall that any city has been subjected to attempts to erase and change its characteristics, identity, and history through forgery,alteration, manipulation, and false claims in the way that the city of Jerusalem is subject to them."
[Official PA TV, The TV Lexicon, March 23, 2017]
"Governor of the Jerusalem District [and PA Minister of Jerusalem Affairs] Adnan Al-Husseini said: 'The Israeli excavations and [digging] tunnels in Jerusalem have been going on since 1967. They have caused cracks in the historical buildings and threaten them with collapse. In addition, most of the antiquities that have been found in these excavations are antiquities from the Islamic culture in its different periods - along with Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad antiquities - and Israel's claims regarding the finding of Jewish antiquities are a clear falsification of the city [of Jerusalem's] history.'
Al-Husseini said this yesterday, Wednesday, [Oct. 4, 2017], during a meeting organized by the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, at which a number of writers, journalists, and intellectuals were present."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 5, 2017]
Friday sermon in the presence of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:
Supreme Shari'ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas' advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "In another few days we will mark the miserable anniversary of the ugly injustice and ugly crime that befell our people, through what is known as the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration). In another few days, on Nov. 2 [2017], it will be 100 years of the ugliest injustice to ever befall [our] people in this land, in the modern age. One with no ownership of this land - Foreign Secretary [Arthur Balfour] of Britain which occupied Palestine while having no ownership of any part of Palestine, not even one millimeter or one grain of sand - gave a promise to one undeserving who has no connection to this land, not religiously or historically, at the expense of the Palestinian people... They [Britain] have no ownership and they have no right, and those to whom they made the promise [the Jews] have no right to it... Balfour and Britain committed this crime at our expense and at the expense of our history and rights, and this is not consistent with reason, religion, law, and morals."
[Official PA TV, Oct. 20, 2017]
PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Rafat: "There are deep Palestinian roots in Palestine throughout all of history. It is a Zionist invention that this is the land of the Jewish patriarchs. This is completely incorrect. There were Jews in Palestine... We have Muslims, Christians, and Jews. But all of them were and still are [part of] the Palestinian people. Therefore, it's a lie that was invented. The Khazar Jews were brought and expelled from Europe to Palestine, in order to get rid of them. Germany wanted to get rid of them, [as did] Britain, France, and Italy. All of Europe wanted to get rid of the Jews and expel them so that the West would have a permanent base in the Middle East. Indeed, they established the State of Israel on the land of historical Palestine."
PA TV host: "It was established by the Zionist Movement, and not by all the Jews."
PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Rafat: "Of course, I'm talking about the Zionist movement that had support from the British colonialism. The British colonialism enabled the Zionist movement to establish the State of Israel."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Nov. 15, 2017]