Only days after it was removed from the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of
Information website, a “study” denying Jews’ rights to the Western Wall has
resurfaced, this time on the official website of the PA’s news agency,
Wafa.
By publishing the document on Wafa’s website, the official
mouthpiece of the PLO and the PA, the authority has sent a message that its has
officially endorsed its findings.
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obstacle to peaceThe “study,” which had sparked strong
condemnations from Israel and the US, was written by Al-Mutawakel Taha, a senior
official with the Ministry of Information in Ramallah.
The five-page
document claims that the Western Wall, which it refers to as the Al-Buraq Wall,
is an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and has always belonged to Muslims. It
states that Muslim “tolerance” had allowed Jews to stand in front of it and cry
over its destruction.
“This wall was never part of the socalled Temple
Mount,” Taha wrote in his project. “The wall is the property of Muslims and
there never was a stone in it that dated back to the era of King Solomon. Jewish
faith has no connection to this wall.” The document accused “Zionist occupation
of falsely and unrightfully” claiming ownership of the Western Wall.
The
“study” disappeared from the Ministry of Information’s website almost
immediately after the US condemned it strongly.
Initially, the ministry
claimed that hackers had penetrated its website and removed the Western Wall
report.
However, a senior PA official in Ramallah later admitted that the
“study” had been removed under pressure from the US Administration.