By ITAMAR MARCUS and NAN JACQUES ZILBERDIK, PMW—
The Palestinian Authority continues to deny Jerusalem’s Jewish history and the existence of the Temple, referring to the “alleged Temple.” In addition, the PA continues to promote its Jerusalem libel:
“Israel is trying to achieve its desired goal:
To build the alleged Temple on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The use of the term “alleged Temple” to deny Jewish history has been PA policy under Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for many years. In August, after Abbas himself used the expression, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the term “alleged Temple” had been used nearly 100 times in 2011 – 2012. As this report documents, the PA continues to use the term.
The following are five recent examples of the PA libel that Israel plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and replace it with the “alleged Temple”:
“The Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, and District Governor Adnan Al-Husseini, called for an aggressive Arab, Islamic, and international stand to protect the holy places of Islam and Christianity in the city of Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He added that for a long time Al-Aqsa has been subject to premeditated Israeli steps aimed at dividing it, as happened at the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron), thus facilitating the process of building the alleged Temple on its ruins.”
“The Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Places said yesterday that the most recent excavations beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque foundations are a final warning the mosque’s destruction. The Council declared that Israeli occupation forces plan to damage the blessed mosque’s foundation and weaken them, so that they will easily collapse at the first opportunity… The Council’s Secretary General, Dr. Hanna Issa, called the digging under the Al-Aqsa foundations a dangerous desecration, a serious attack on the sanctity of the mosque, and a clear statement of the occupation’s intentions on the mosque, and its decision to cause its collapse and build the alleged Temple on its ruins.”
“The Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Places denounced yesterday the ‘invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremists and settlers dressed as priests of the alleged Temple, and conducting Talmudic ceremonies in the mosque’s plazas…’ The Council declared that through all these violations, ‘Israel’ is trying to achieve its desired goal: To build the alleged Temple on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque… The Council declared that Jerusalem today is very different from the Islamic and Christian Jerusalem, since acts of Judaization, including demolition, destruction, and banishment, have made the occupied city into something different, adapted to the Jews’ extremist goals, and it (the Council) warned that the these programs’ crowning achievement will be the destruction of Al-Aqsa and the building of the alleged Temple on its ruins.”
Headline: “Al-Tamimi calls for Arab and Islamic Intifada for Al-Aqsa”
“Elder Judge, former Chairman of the Supreme Council for Sharia Law, and Secretary of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, Sheikh Dr. Tayseer Rajab Al-Tamimi, called for a strong Intifada (terror campaign) by Arab and Islamic nations for the sake of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said that the mosque is subject to daily invasions by settlers and extremist Jewish groups, and to attempts to desecrate , are steps in implementing a Zionist plan to seize control and Judaize , as preparation for its destruction, and for building their alleged Temple on its ruins.”
“The Al-Aqsa Institute for Islamic Trusts and Heritage warned yesterday of dangerous excavations being carried out by the Israeli occupation army and its agents beneath the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque… The Institute related to the occupation’s false claims that during excavations in the area, various archaeological artifacts were found from the time of the alleged first and second Temples, are dangerous for the Al-Aqsa Mosque from a structural, archeological, and historical point of view… The occupation claims that during the excavations it found archeological artifacts from the alleged first and second Temple periods… Also, the occupation has begun to Judaize the new section of the western wall of Al-Aqsa by placing Talmudic ‘prayer and good-luck slips’ between its stones.”