PA Foreign Minister reiterates belief that "Western Wall is occupied territory" following U.S. statement
Headline: “The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the US position on the Al-Buraq Wall in Jerusalem”
“The Palestinian [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday [May 17, 2017] welcomed the American statements that viewed the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem as part of the occupied West Bank (see note below –Ed.).
[PA] Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki said in statements to [the official PA radio station] The Voice of Palestine: ‘It is clear that the American position is a clear position that opposes any Israeli participation in [US] President [Donald] Trump’s visit to the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, because they are part of the West Bank and the occupied territories that do not belong to the State of Israel.’ He added: ‘This is a strong political position that we welcome. We think that it reflects a good start to the role that the American government and President Trump are likely to play in the matter.’”
The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs was referring to an incident on May 14, 2017 reported by Israeli TV Channel 2, in which a member of the US team preparing US President Donald Trump’s May 22-23 visit to Israel rejected a request by Israeli officials that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompany Trump on his visit to the Western Wall, saying it was a private visit and that the Western Wall is “not your territory. It’s part of the West Bank.”
A White House official was later cited by the media as saying “These comments were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the US position, and certainly not the President's position.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikkey Haley said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on May 16: “The Western Wall is part of Israel and I think that is how we have always seen it and that is how we should pursue it.”
Likewise, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the same day: “The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in Jewish faith. It’s clearly in Jerusalem.”
Trump’s visit to the Western Wall, which comes as part of his first international trip as president, will make him the first serving US president to ever visit the Western Wall.
The Al-Buraq Wall - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have rode during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."
The PA now claims it is a Muslim holy site, saying that Jews, therefore, are prohibited from praying at the wall.
“The Palestinian [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday [May 17, 2017] welcomed the American statements that viewed the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem as part of the occupied West Bank (see note below –Ed.).
[PA] Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki said in statements to [the official PA radio station] The Voice of Palestine: ‘It is clear that the American position is a clear position that opposes any Israeli participation in [US] President [Donald] Trump’s visit to the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, because they are part of the West Bank and the occupied territories that do not belong to the State of Israel.’ He added: ‘This is a strong political position that we welcome. We think that it reflects a good start to the role that the American government and President Trump are likely to play in the matter.’”
The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs was referring to an incident on May 14, 2017 reported by Israeli TV Channel 2, in which a member of the US team preparing US President Donald Trump’s May 22-23 visit to Israel rejected a request by Israeli officials that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompany Trump on his visit to the Western Wall, saying it was a private visit and that the Western Wall is “not your territory. It’s part of the West Bank.”
A White House official was later cited by the media as saying “These comments were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the US position, and certainly not the President's position.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikkey Haley said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on May 16: “The Western Wall is part of Israel and I think that is how we have always seen it and that is how we should pursue it.”
Likewise, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the same day: “The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in Jewish faith. It’s clearly in Jerusalem.”
Trump’s visit to the Western Wall, which comes as part of his first international trip as president, will make him the first serving US president to ever visit the Western Wall.
The Al-Buraq Wall - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have rode during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."
The PA now claims it is a Muslim holy site, saying that Jews, therefore, are prohibited from praying at the wall.