Palestinian official falsely claims that 1969 Al-Aqsa arson, committed by Australian Christian with a mental health disorder was "Israel's plan"
Official PA TV program Good Morning Jerusalem, on the 1969 Al-Aqsa Mosque arson – see note below
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, 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.”
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 a "break-in." 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.
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.