Israelis/Jews "defile" Muslim and Christian holy sites

Muslim and Christian holy sites in "Palestine" are "defiled" and "desecrated" by the presence of Israelis/Jews. This hateful demonization is often expressed by Palestinians, including Palestinian leaders.

In December 2018, the PA "presidential office" stressed that Mahmoud Abbas was to have "urgent conversations" with Arab and international bodies about "the dangerous Israeli escalation," which among other things Abbas' office said is being expressed by "the defilement of the holy sites." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 11, 2018]

Every time an Israeli/Jew enters Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount plaza, the PA calls it "an invasion" and a "defilement" or a "desecration."

Recently, official PA radio broadcast a song which included the lyrics: "The Zionist" has "defiled the mosques and churches" in the cities of "Haifa, Ramallah, Gaza, Jaffa, Ramle, Acre, and occupied Jerusalem":

The statement by the host of this program on official PA TV is a another typical example:

Official PA TV host: "The series of invasions by the settlers into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is still continuing. Since the start of their Jewish holidays, thousands of extremists have defiled its plazas while under intensive police protection."

[Official PA TV, A Week in the Capital, Sept. 30, 2018]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that this is official PA policy. Abbas' advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that Israeli PM Netanyahu's permission to Jewish Israeli MPs to visit the Temple Mount is a "war crime" and that these MPs "defile" the Islamic holy places in Jerusalem and Hebron.

Abbas himself called on Palestinians to in 2014 to "prevent" Israelis/Jews "in any way whatsoever" from "defiling" the holy sites, and coincided with the beginning of a Palestinian terror wave. Abbas' speech was then broadcast 32 times in the same year on official PA TV, and again dozens of times in 2017 and 2018 possibly for the purpose of sparking new waves of violence. Abbas repeated in 2015 that Palestinians wouldn't "allow" Jews' "filthy feet" to "defile" the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The PA has used such statements to fuel Palestinian anger and sense of "danger" to the Islamic holy sites. PMW has shown that Palestinian terrorists have acted on this purported danger and carried out terror attacks to "protect" the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The following are longer excerpts of some of the reports cited above:

"The [PA] Presidential Office emphasized that [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas will hold a series of urgent conversations with a few Arab and international bodies so that they will do what they are obligated to do regarding the dangerous Israeli escalation, which is being expressed by the continued invasions of the [Palestinian] cities, the continued crimes of the settlers, and the defilement of the holy sites."

Murabitin - i.e., those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic

During the Jewish holidays 2018, Jewish visitors did not attack Muslims, but several Muslim activists were arrested for obstructing the Jewish visitors.

Break-in/Invasion/attack of Al-Aqsa Mosque - The PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "invasion." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.

“Division according to areas and times” refers to a submission of a “private bill” by Israeli MP Uri Ariel in March 2003. The bill suggested ensuring freedom of religious worship by allowing both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount - what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The bill sought to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. The bill never progressed past the initial legislatory stage. While there was additional discussion on the subject in 2012, no legislation was ever passed. In response to the incessant PA claims that the “division according to areas and times” of the Temple Mount is an operative Israeli plan, former Israeli PM Netanyahu stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of ‎changing the so-called status quo on the Temple Mount, which de facto is interpreted to mean Jews are only allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but not to conduct individual or communal prayers there. In July 2021, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said Muslims and Jews have freedom of worship at the Temple Mount, which was understood by many as a hint to changing the status quo at the site, but the following day his office backtracked and said he misspoke and did not mean Jews would have freedom of worship, but rather would have freedom to visit. “There is no change in the status quo,” a statement from PM Bennett’s office confirmed.y type of worship.