PMW Bulletin

June 9, 2011

Palestinian distortion:

"If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem" was Crusader expression usurped by Zionists

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=5133

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org

f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

As part of the continuing Palestinian denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem,
a Palestinian researcher and specialist on Jerusalem has claimed that the
well-known verse of the Hebrew psalm, "If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may
my right hand forget its skill," is not a Jewish source at all. He said that
the words were uttered by a Christian Crusader, and have only recently been
"borrowed" by Jews and "falsified in the name of Zionism."

The verse is in fact from Psalm 137 of the Hebrew Bible, which opens with
the words: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yea, we wept, when we
remembered Zion." The psalm mourns the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonian army in 586 BCE, is part of Jewish tradition and liturgy and has
appeared in Jewish sources for thousands of years.

Palestinian Media Watch has documented the Palestinian Authority policy of
denying Israel's history as the basis for its denial of Israel's right to
exist. The PA often denies the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, calling
it "the alleged Temple."

The following are the words of Palestinian researcher Dr. Hayel Sanduqa on
PA TV, claiming that the Hebrew Bible's psalm was actually first said by a
Crusader:

"[The Israelis] have acted to change Jerusalem's character. Even the
expression (Psalm 137:5) 'If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand
forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not
remember thee.'

This statement, said by the Frankish [Crusader] ruler of Acre shortly before
he left, was borrowed by the Zionist movement, which falsified it in the
name of Zionism."

[PA TV (Fatah), June 2, 2011]

Click here to see more examples from PMW's website of the Palestinian
Authority's denial of Jewish history.
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=487#489

The following is the beginning of Psalm 137 of the Hebrew Bible:

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we
remembered Zion.

Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our
tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?

If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee, if I
set not Jerusalem above my greatest joy."