PA’s annual libel festival: An “extremist Jew” burned Al-Aqsa in 1969, Israel “deliberately prevented” the fire from being extinguished

As is the way of the PA, a grain of truth is turned into a grand libel. Once a year, the PA illustrates the anatomy of a libel in all clarity when it commemorates the arson at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969.

An Australian Christian named Michael Rohan who suffered from a mental health disorder set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. That is the true part at the base of this Palestinian narrative.

But the PA has used this incident as a spring board to annually repeat the libel of its false claim that Rohan was really a Jew and a Zionist, and was “acting on behalf of the Jewish religion”:

“General Supervisor of the Official [PA] Media Ahmad Assaf said that the fire that extremist [Michael Rohan] set on behalf of the Jewish religion 51 years ago is still burning and standing against the establishment of a just permanent peace in the Middle East and Palestine.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Furthermore, the PA alleges that to ensure the fire successfully played its role in the wider Israeli “plot” to gain control over and destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to build “the alleged Temple,” Israel also deliberately prevented Palestinians from
putting out the fire and even cut off the water supply.

But in fact it was Israeli firefighters who eventually put out the fire and not Palestinian firefighters. The Israeli firefighters arrived within minutes but rioting Muslims interfered with their work and broke the only fire hydrant at the site. PMW found no evidence for claims that Israel cut off the water.

Both official PA TV and the official PA daily passed on the libelous narrative:

Official PA TV reporter: “For many years and even today the Israeli occupation has been targeting the Islamic, historical, Arab, and Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. Fifty-one years ago Michael Denis Rohan of Australian origin, who had Israeli interests, committed his atrocious crime – setting the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire… The fire trucks of the Palestinian cities and our people rushed to put out the fire, but the occupation authorities delayed the fire trucks and cut off the water in the area.”

[Official PA TV News, Aug. 21, 2020]

“On this day in 1969 the Jew with Australian citizenship Michael Denis [Rohan] deliberately set fire to the eastern part of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque… During the fire our people succeeded in saving what remained of the Al-Aqsa Mosque before the fire took it over, after fire trucks hurried from the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem and different areas in the West Bank and the Arab municipalities to save the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was despite the Israeli occupation authorities’ attempts to prevent them from doing this and the fact that they cut off the water from the area surrounding the mosque on the day of the fire; the fire trucks of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem also deliberately delayed in order to not participate in putting out the fire.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Posting the photo above from the fire, the PA’s Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice Mahmoud Al-Habbash also reiterated the libel, saying Rohan – “a Zionist” – set the fire. He used the opportunity to remind Palestinians that to “liberate” and “defend” the Al-Aqsa Mosque is “a sacred religious obligation that everyone must fulfill.” Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA has successfully used such calls to “defend” the mosque in order to urge Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israel:

Posted text: “Today [Aug. 21, 2020] our emotions are flooded by the anniversary of the severe tragedy that struck our nation when a Zionist named Michael Rohan set the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire on Aug. 21, 1969…
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the first direction for [Muslim] prayer, the second mosque, the third sanctuary in sanctity, the destination of the Night Journey of our Prophet Muhammad, blessing and peace be upon him, and part of the Muslim faith. It is a deposit of the religion and history on the neck of the entire nation, and its liberation and defense are a sacred religious obligation that everyone must fulfill.”

[Facebook page of Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Aug. 21, 2020]

The PLO’s Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Sites similarly underlined that Israel is still working to “achieve the occupation state’s greatest goal, which is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged Temple on its ruins.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Likewise, a representative from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ahmed Al-Ruweidi, stated that “the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 was a clear message that Israel has a plan that was activated then.” He continued to explain this alleged Israeli plot:

“They [Israel] have especially targeted the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they actually want to gather the Jews in the world around the alleged Temple, Torah stories, and a plan to transfer more Jews to Palestine.”

[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Aug. 21, 2020]

The Fatah Movement used the anniversary of the arson to stress that “any relinquishment of Jerusalem is treason and submission to the colonialist Zionist project and the fake Zionist narrative regarding Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

This also was a reference to the United Arab Emirates’ peace agreement with Israel, which the PA sees as “treason.”

The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:

Headline: “The [Palestinian] National Council and Fatah: Jerusalem is the conscience of the nation and relinquishing it is treason”
“Today, Friday, Aug. 21 [2020], is the 51st anniversary of the burning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 (see note below –Ed.).
On that day an extremist Jew with Australian citizenship, terrorist Michael Denis [Rohan] (sic., Rohan was an Australian Christian with a mental health disorder, not a Jew), invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque and deliberately set fire to the blessed mosque’s eastern part…
The Fatah Movement emphasized that Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites are the conscience of the Arab nation and a symbol of its existence, and that any relinquishment of Jerusalem is treason and submission to the colonialist Zionist project and the fake Zionist narrative regarding Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque…
The [PLO] Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Sites emphasized… that the occupation authorities are burning the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque with all its parts on a daily basis through the methods of Judaization and destruction that they are surprisingly inventing. This is in addition to the excavation of the tunnels, the settlers’ invasions, and the establishment of settlement centers that come in conjunction with the flames of burning and extremism to achieve the occupation state’s greatest goal, which is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged Temple on its ruins.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Michael Rohan - Australian Christian with a mental health disorder who set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. For years, the Palestinian Authority has falsely accused Israel of setting the fire.

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.

“General Supervisor of the Official [PA] Media Ahmad Assaf said that the fire that extremist [Michael Rohan] set on behalf of the Jewish religion 51 years ago (sic., Michael Rohan was a Christian with a mental health disorder) is still burning and standing against the establishment a just permanent peace in the Middle East and Palestine, and is also preventing constructive, real, and serious dialogue between the religions and cultures.
Assaf said this during a forum that the Union of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) News Agencies organized yesterday [Aug. 13, 2020] through [the video conference application] Zoom.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Headline: “Demands to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque against the plots being woven against it in light of the normalization”
“Today, Friday [Aug. 14, 2020], is the Arab nation and Islamic nation’s painful anniversary of the burning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, for on this day in 1969 the Jew with Australian citizenship Michael Denis [Rohan] (sic., Rohan was an Australian Christian with a mental health disorder) deliberately set fire to the eastern part of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque…
During the fire our people succeeded in saving what remained of the Al-Aqsa Mosque before the fire took it over, after fire trucks hurried from the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem and different areas in the West Bank and the Arab municipalities to save the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was despite the Israeli occupation authorities’ attempts to prevent them from doing this and the fact that they cut off the water from the area surrounding the mosque on the day of the fire; the fire trucks of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem also deliberately delayed in order to not participate in putting out the fire (sic., Israeli firefighters – who eventually put out the fire and not Palestinian firefighters – arrived within minutes but rioting Muslims interfered with their work and broke the only fire hydrant at the site; PMW found no evidence for claims that Israel cut off the water).”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 14, 2020]

Official PA TV program Good Morning Jerusalem, on the 1969 Al-Aqsa Mosque arson

Official PA TV host: “We will begin by talking about the 51st anniversary of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque arson… Every day the Jerusalem residents and Palestinians recall the Al-Aqsa Mosque arson as if it were still burning. These are break-ins – over 30,000 settlers break into the Al-Aqsa Mosque every year. These are the crazy actions – stealing land [from the Al-Aqsa Mosque], prostrating on the ground, holding Talmudic (i.e., Jewish) prayers, the measures being implemented at the Al-Aqsa Mosque [such as] full security for break-ins and for actions of the settler gangs; and simultaneously, drying up the Islamic presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque – removing [people] from it, arrests, preventing worshippers from reaching the Gate of Mercy (refers to an illegal compound; see note below –Ed.)… How do you respond to this holocaust that the Jerusalem residents are dealing with in their defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque?”
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) representative Ahmed Al-Ruweidi: “Firstly… the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been targeted since the occupation in 1967…
The burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 was a clear message that Israel has a plan that was activated then, because it acquitted this man [Michael Rohan] (i.e., Australian Christian with a mental health disorder who committed the arson), and it claimed that he is crazy and did not judge him, and therefore-”
Host: “It expelled him after less than two years.”
Ahmed Al-Ruweidi: “Yes, that means that he had governmental cover and that this is not a matter that is connected to the settlers, or settler associations that were established afterwards, the Temple Mount association and others… and the matter developed into a number of associations now that are breaking into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attempting to hold prayers and more… But the image [of an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount] that Israel attempted to present in 1967 gives an indication that they have especially targeted the Al-Aqsa Mosque, andthey actually want to gather the Jews in the world around the alleged Temple, Torah stories, and a plan to transfer more Jews to Palestine.”

[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Aug. 21, 2020]

 February 2019 Temple Mount clashes – Muslim riots broke out on the Temple Mount starting Feb. 18, 2019, after the Israeli police closed a compound near the Gate of Mercy after the Jordanian Waqf had violated an Israeli court order by reopening the compound the previous week. The compound was ordered sealed in 2017 given that it was managed by the banned Islamic Movement in Israel and used for illegal construction and antiquities destruction.

Official PA TV reporter:“For many years and even today the Israeli occupation has been targeting the Islamic, historical, Arab, and Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. Fifty-one years ago Michael Denis Rohan of Australian origin, who had Israeli interests, committed his atrocious crime – setting the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire… On the night of the fire (sic., the fire was set and discovered in the early morning hours) the fire trucks of the Palestinian cities and our people rushed to put out the fire, but the occupation authorities delayed the fire trucks and cut off the water in the area (sic., Israeli firefighters – who eventually put out the fire and not Palestinian firefighters – arrived within minutes but rioting Muslims interfered with their work and broke the only fire hydrant at the site; PMW found no evidence for claims that Israel cut off the water). The burned territory of the Al-Aqsa Mosque reached more than a third of its overall territory. Even though the occupation authorities stopped the water to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings and even though there was tarrying in dispatching fire trucks, citizens from different areas hurried to put out the fire and succeeded in saving what remained of the first direction for [Muslim] prayer and the third [most] sacred sanctuary…
Israel returned the criminal Denis [Rohan] to Australia, claiming he was mentally ill. After the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, [then Israeli Prime Minister] Golda Meir also claimed that Israel could do anything it pleased (PMW was unable to find records of such a quote –Ed.). But the winds blew in Jerusalem in [a direction] that the Israeli ships did not desire. Our people defended Jerusalem and its holy sites, and hundreds died as Martyrs in the corridors of the Al-Aqsa Mosque… This is Jerusalem, which since the enemy took control of it is suffering in imprisonment. This is Jerusalem, which wanders in the minds of this nation, generation after generation. They do not close their eyes except at its command. These are the words of Saladin Al-Ayyubi (i.e., the founder of the 12th-13th century Ayyubid dynasty) that have been etched deep into every Palestinian who is from Jerusalem and is Arab, who stands with all his determination and resolution against the occupation’s Judaization policy that strives to harm the Islamic and Christian cultural identity of Jerusalem.”
…
PA Grand Mufti and Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Muhammad Hussein: “Since this history and up until our present day, the Muslims and Christians share – in pain and in hope – the protection of these holy sites and the entire holy city [of Jerusalem]. If the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be subjected to Zionist aggression, the Christians and Muslims will rise up to defend the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in the same manner, so too is the defense of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the rest of the sites that are holy to Christianity – and this is what has actually happened at many sites.”

[Official PA TV News, Aug. 21, 2020]

Muhammad Hussein also serves as Deputy Secretary-General and acting Secretary-General of the PLO Popular National Conference of Jerusalem.