[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: If Israeli officials said similar things American
officials would be issuing statements in the same news cycle.]

PMW Bulletin
May 10, 2012

Mahmoud Abbas:
Jerusalem only has Islamic and Christian history,
Israel's "Judaization" is stealing Jerusalem's
"cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian
religious history"

Mahmoud Abbas' advisor:
Israel is creating "artificial heritage
with a Jewish spirit at the expense
of its [Jerusalem's] true and authentic [identity]
as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city"
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6854

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org

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

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority continue to deny
Israel's 3,000 years of history in Jerusalem, claiming it is solely an Arab,
Muslim and Christian city. Earlier this month, Abbas referred to Israel's
presence and activities in Jerusalem as "Judaization" and stated that Israel
is stealing what he called the "cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian
religious history."

Last month, Abbas' advisor for Jerusalem said that Israel is trying:
"to create an artificial heritage with a Jewish spirit at the expense of its
true and authentic [identity] as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city."

This is not the first time that Abbas has denied Jewish history in Jerusalem
and claimed the city for Islam alone. Palestinian Media Watch has reported
that Mahmoud Abbas said that taking Jerusalem from Israel is a religious
Islamic obligation of the highest level, a "fard ayn" - a personal Islamic
commandment incumbent on every Muslim:
"I say to the leaders of our Arab nation and to its peoples: Jerusalem and
its environs are a trust that Allah entrusted to us. Saving it [Jerusalem]
from the settlement monster and the danger of Judaization and [land]
confiscation is a personal [Islamic] commandment [Arabic: fard ayn]
incumbent on all of us. Therefore, I call all of you to serious and urgent
action to save [Jerusalem] and to make available all possibilities in order
to strengthen our resolve and to maintain its historical, cultural and
religious character."
[Al-Jazeera TV, March 27, 2010]

In a different speech, Abbas said in 2010:
"The oppressor will not last in Jerusalem; the oppression will not endure.
Victory will come, Allah willing. This land is Allah's best land, for which
He chooses the finest of His believers, as it is written in the words of the
Prophet [Muhammad]."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 11, 2010]

Abbas' Minister of Religion Mahmoud Al-Habbash claimed that Jerusalem has
been:
"throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the capital of
the Palestinian people."

[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 20, 2010]

Neither claim is correct. There has never been a Palestinian state and
Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab or Muslim state. Nonetheless, the
minister warned there would be religious war over Jerusalem:
"The term 'war' cannot be erased from the lexicon of this region as long as
Jerusalem is occupied."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 20, 2010]

The Palestinian Authority Mufti Muhammad Hussein likewise recently denied
Jewish history in Jerusalem:
"They [Jews] want to say or suggest that this place (i.e., the Temple Mount)
was once, according to their claim, a Temple. However, in truth, there never
was a Temple in any period, nor was there, at any time, any place of worship
for the Jews or others at the Al-Aqsa Mosque site (i.e., which was built on
the Temple Mount, 705 CE)."
[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 5, 2012]

The following are the recent statements by Mahmoud Abbas and his advisor on
Jerusalem, followed by Abbas' earlier comments and the remarks of the
Minister of Religion:

"President Mahmoud Abbas held a series of meetings in Tunis... the President
met with the Arab ambassadors to Tunisia... He explained to the guests the
policies that are being adopted by the occupation authorities (i.e.,
Israel) - Judaization, destruction of homes, causing the emigration of
Palestinian inhabitants, and imposition of high taxes; the continued
excavations under the Al-Aqsa Mosque; [and he explained] the need for Arab
cohesion in order to protect what remains of the holy city, and the
[Israeli] attempts to steal its cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian
religious history."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 1, 2012]

"Advisor on Jerusalem affairs to the Palestinian President's Office, Ahmed
Al-Ruweidi... said: 'Israel is managing to seize the land in the city; at
the same time, the chances of maintaining its Arab and Islamic identity are
small, since the occupation authorities are carrying out the 2020 plan,
which is meant to establish the Jewishness of Jerusalem and to create a new
and fabricated facade with an artificial heritage... about Jewish existence
in Jerusalem... It is not befitting a city with the importance of Jerusalem,
with what it represents, that it should continue to be subject to
occupation... and that there should be repeated, ongoing attempts to change
its geographical, demographic and cultural characteristics, and to create an
artificial heritage with a Jewish spirit at the expense of its true and
authentic [identity] as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city.'"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 25, 2012]

Mahmoud Abbas, addressing the leaders of Arab countries at the Arab League
summit in Libya, on March 27, 2010:

"I say to the leaders of our Arab nation and to its peoples: Jerusalem and
its environs are a trust that Allah entrusted to us. Saving it [Jerusalem]
from the settlement monster and the danger of Judaization and [land-]
confiscation, is a personal [Islamic] commandment [Arabic: fard ayn]
incumbent on all of us. Therefore, I call all of you to serious and urgent
action to save [Jerusalem] and to make available all possibilities in order
to strengthen our resolve and to maintain its historical, cultural and
religious character."
[Al-Jazeera TV, March 27, 2010]
Click to view
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=709&fld_id=709&doc_id=2121
Mahmoud Al-Habbash, PA Minister of Religious Affairs with Mahmoud Abbas in
the audience:

"Jerusalem is not just a city. Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque. Jerusalem is
the key to peace, and Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars. Unless
the issue of Jerusalem is solved, so that it returns to its owners; unless
Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was throughout history, the capital of
the Palestinian state and the capital of the Palestinian people, the place
which is the object of heartfelt longing and which all Muslims aspire to
reach; unless Jerusalem is like that way, there is no peace. There is no
peace without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem. If
Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if [Jerusalem] is lost,
it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle, all
possibilities of war. The term 'war' cannot be erased from the lexicon of
this region as long as Jerusalem is occupied, as long as Jerusalem is
disgraced, as long as the residents of Jerusalem are being targeted. It's
not possible; Jerusalem has to return to its owners. And we are its owners."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 20, 2010]
Click to view
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=860&fld_id=709&doc_id=2965