Abbas: "More than 5,000 years ago, our Canaanite Jebusite ancestors built Jerusalem so that it would be their capital"
Official PA TV, speech by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the opening of the Ninth International Islamic Jerusalem Conference at the PA headquarters in Ramallah
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “At this opportunity and being here alongside my brother [former Jordanian Prime Minister] Taher Al-Masri, I want to respond to several of the statements reaching us from the West – from the west of us – about an alternative homeland. I want to tell them: We are here in Palestine and Jordan – one people in two states, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Palestine – die in your anger (seems to be addressing the West –Ed.)…
Ladies and gentlemen, when we say that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine, we are saying nothing new. On the contrary, this is the right and the history over which there is no disagreement. More than 5,000 years ago, our Canaanite Jebusite ancestors built Jerusalem so that it would be their capital. They gave it the name ‘Jebus’ as a sign of appreciation and taking pride in it. Afterwards they called it ‘Urshalim,’ in other words, ‘the city of peace’ in the ancient Canaanite language. From this [period of] history until the present day, the Arab and Palestinian presence in Jerusalem has been uninterrupted, in light of the fact that we are the grandchildren of the Canaanites…
At this opportunity, brothers and sisters, I confirm before you that these matters appeared in the Bible. The Bible emphasized that the Canaanites were in this country before Abraham, and their presence has been uninterrupted for the past 5,000 years and until today. Afterwards several [Israelis] say: ‘This is ours and this is our country.’ No, this is not their country! …
Today, O friends, brothers, and dear ones, the Palestinian people is standing against great challenges and faces great plots that target its cause, rights, and sanctified capital - a plot that more than 100 years have passed since its dark beginning, since the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), which was given by one who is not the owner to one who has no right.”
Text on screen: “The Ninth International Islamic Jerusalem Conference”
The screenshot shows the stage at the conference’s opening event. The stage’s backdrop is a large poster, and on the right side of the poster is a picture of former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Nazi collaborator Haj Amin Al-Husseini.
Text on screen: “His Honor the president: ‘We are here in Palestine and Jordan, one people in two states’”
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.
Haj Amin Al-Husseini - the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time of the British Mandate. During World War II he moved to Berlin, where he was a Nazi collaborator and an associate of Hitler. Al-Husseini was on Yugoslavia's list of wanted war criminals, and was responsible for a Muslim SS division that murdered thousands of Serbs and Croats. When the Nazis offered to free some Jewish children, Al-Husseini fought against their release, and as a result, 5000 children were sent to the gas chambers.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “At this opportunity and being here alongside my brother [former Jordanian Prime Minister] Taher Al-Masri, I want to respond to several of the statements reaching us from the West – from the west of us – about an alternative homeland. I want to tell them: We are here in Palestine and Jordan – one people in two states, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Palestine – die in your anger (seems to be addressing the West –Ed.)…
Ladies and gentlemen, when we say that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine, we are saying nothing new. On the contrary, this is the right and the history over which there is no disagreement. More than 5,000 years ago, our Canaanite Jebusite ancestors built Jerusalem so that it would be their capital. They gave it the name ‘Jebus’ as a sign of appreciation and taking pride in it. Afterwards they called it ‘Urshalim,’ in other words, ‘the city of peace’ in the ancient Canaanite language. From this [period of] history until the present day, the Arab and Palestinian presence in Jerusalem has been uninterrupted, in light of the fact that we are the grandchildren of the Canaanites…
At this opportunity, brothers and sisters, I confirm before you that these matters appeared in the Bible. The Bible emphasized that the Canaanites were in this country before Abraham, and their presence has been uninterrupted for the past 5,000 years and until today. Afterwards several [Israelis] say: ‘This is ours and this is our country.’ No, this is not their country! …
Today, O friends, brothers, and dear ones, the Palestinian people is standing against great challenges and faces great plots that target its cause, rights, and sanctified capital - a plot that more than 100 years have passed since its dark beginning, since the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), which was given by one who is not the owner to one who has no right.”
Text on screen: “The Ninth International Islamic Jerusalem Conference”
The screenshot shows the stage at the conference’s opening event. The stage’s backdrop is a large poster, and on the right side of the poster is a picture of former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Nazi collaborator Haj Amin Al-Husseini.
Text on screen: “His Honor the president: ‘We are here in Palestine and Jordan, one people in two states’”
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.
Haj Amin Al-Husseini - the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time of the British Mandate. During World War II he moved to Berlin, where he was a Nazi collaborator and an associate of Hitler. Al-Husseini was on Yugoslavia's list of wanted war criminals, and was responsible for a Muslim SS division that murdered thousands of Serbs and Croats. When the Nazis offered to free some Jewish children, Al-Husseini fought against their release, and as a result, 5000 children were sent to the gas chambers.