Palestinian distortion of historical facts hurts Peace

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Bibby A Palestinian Authority report claiming the Western Wall was not a Jewish holy site and was, in fact, sacred to Muslims poses a serious question as to the Palestinian's desire to reach a peace deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

The prime minister's rebuke came in the wake of a report released by a senior PA official on Wednesday which said the Western Wall had no religious significance to Jews and is in fact, holy Muslim property.

Al-Mutawakil Taha, deputy minister of information in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority that rules the West Bank, told The Associated Press that his five-page study published on a Palestinian government website reflected the official Palestinian position.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday, Netanyahu severely criticized the PA-sponsored study, saying that "denying the link binding the Jewish people and the Western Wall by the Palestinian information office is a travesty."

"When the Palestinians Authority denies the connection between the Jewish people and the Western Wall it raises serious questions as to its intentions to reach a peace deal founded on coexistence and mutual recognition," the statement said, adding that the PA must cease its "distortion of historical facts and encourage a bridge to peace that would lead to a historical reconciliation between the two peoples.

Part of the report released by the Palestinians on Wednesday disputes that the Western Wall was a retaining wall of the Temple compound, discarding centuries of documentation and archaeology.

"This wall has never been a part of what is called the Jewish Temple," the report claimed. "However, it was Islamic tolerance which allowed the Jews to stand before it and cry over its loss."

The report concludes that since Jews have no claim to the area, it is holy Muslim territory and must be part of Palestinian Jerusalem.

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Original piece is http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-palestinian-distortion-of-historical-facts-hurts-mideast-peace-drive-1.326854

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"..European ideas are too vague, diluted and abstract for the tribalist middle east.."etc Bravo YMR

Posted by Danny on 2010-11-28 23:17:42 GMT

It forms the content of this week"s radio program actually..if it ever gets on air!

Posted by Ronit on 2010-11-28 08:36:00 GMT

Yep I know! So for you and me, it"ll continue to be a talk fest with some little attempts at educating a few more people about what may actually be going on...and praying I guess. all"s I"m trying to say is...if people criticise all the articles and talking we do about what"s going on...they should suggest action that is actually realistic as an alternative...otherwise...what"s the point?

Posted by Ronit on 2010-11-28 06:48:11 GMT

I agree YMR, I do that to the best of my ability in my very very very small way...but there is an Israeli govt and Jewish orgs ... all playing their own games...all over the world...none of which are doing particularly well...how do you propose we operationise these suggestions...

Posted by Ronit on 2010-11-28 03:34:33 GMT

Islam has never let the facts get in the way of a "good" STORY. Islam tolerance: now there"s a statement. Islam will "tolerate" something until it is in the position to crush it, then no mercy is shown. The tactics that the Islamists are employing are working well. The few that support Israel have always supported Israel. The majority either don"t care or have sympathy for the "Palestinians". We shouldn"t even be writing the word Palestinian in this context. Sometimes facts are hard to face, but there will be no peace between the Islamist and the nation of Israel, as long as both exist, unless Islam is brought to "it"s" knees. There is no concept of peace in the system of fundamental Islam, whilst an infidel or an apostate remains. Israel needs to deal with the facts, no matter how unpleasant that is. The longer we play the game on the terms set down by the enemy, the worse the situation becomes. I quote something I read recently: "It is worse to lose courage than to lose an army." Is Israel on it"s way to losing both? I pray not!!

Posted by Philip Hammond Biblical Witness for Israel. on 2010-11-28 02:58:15 GMT

Zelda, what do you think we should do?

Posted by Ronit on 2010-11-28 02:24:44 GMT

The AJN"s front page headline re this issue reads, "Is nothing sacred?" What kind of daft question is that? Of course nothing is sacred and you can confidently bet even more outrageous provocations will be forthcoming from that hugely effective propaganda machine that toils 24/7 to trash Israel and Jews worldwide. How do we react to this intifada of sickening lies? With predictable shock and horror. How do we counter it? Oh the usual- dignified official responses that fall on deaf ears and long, erudite opinion pieces nobody has the time or patience to read. This abysmal state of affairs will continue until Israel and the diaspora get around to effective global hasbara and stop preaching, weeping and wailing to the converted.

Posted by Zelda Cawthorne on 2010-11-27 23:54:52 GMT

Only damned fools and Israeli politicians of same dreckfressers ilk as Shimon Peres, OLMERDE, Gideon Levy, Yossi Bielin, etc,. can swallow line, hook and sinker the fable of "Peace" with the Arabs, even if OBAMA stands on his head, as this is another proof that there is nobody with whom to go to the table, with these history rewritters, precisely for the consumption of their ignorant and stupid masses and other equally ignorant and stupid masses of the Western world, dare to come up with a lie that claims even at the ears of ALLAH.. But it does serve right our Israeli lefties, considering that the Al-Aksa could have been already history if the magazine excavated underneath by the Jordanians before the Six Days War would have blown up or when DAYAN foolishly refused to accept the keys to the Mosque from the terrified WAQF... As always, all those made out of sugar, end up eaten by the ants...

Posted by jacob mandelblum on 2010-11-26 15:08:09 GMT

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Palestinian distortion of historical facts hurts Peace

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