Op-ed by PA daily editor-in-chief denies Jewish history in Israel and Jerusalem; compares Palestinians to Jesus
Excerpt of an op-ed by official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida Editor in Chief Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija
Headline: “When Jerusalem tells [a story]”
“From the Damascus Gate Plaza – whose name became the Martyrs’ (Shahids’) Plaza following the last uprising in Jerusalem (apparently refers to several months of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis 2015 - 2016 –Ed.) – you reach a stone staircase… that descends into history… Most of the Israeli occupation soldiers here are from the Falash Mura (i.e., descendants of Ethiopian Jews; see note below) who say they are Hebrews! They tremble inside the guard posts, and sometimes some of them are close to the gate checking ID cards. They are afraid and avoid looking in the eyes of the owners [of the ID cards], the residents of the city. Around them is a purely Arab hubbub: the voices of the Arab farm girls selling vegetables in wicker baskets and youth ridiculing the occupation soldiers among themselves and laughing at them. The soldiers understand nothing of what is happening, which causes them to grip their automatic rifles tighter… The Falash Mura soldiers and the rest of the Zionist occupiers, who never in their history crossed the Euphrates River and who arrived from across the Atlantic Ocean, are a foreign sight (sic., the majority of Jews did not immigrate to Israel from across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Jewish people originated in Israel). Jerusalem is fighting [this sight] at every moment through the power of its history, its Arabic eloquence, the sanctity of its heavenly status, and its children’s resolve as guardians of this place and as knights, in order to redeem it from the occupation’s injustice and darkness and so that it will return to being a capital of peace, justice, truth, and beauty. There is no story in Jerusalem other than its story, which is strengthened by the sanctity of the [Night] Journey to Heaven by the Prophet of love Muhammad, peace be upon him, and which is perfumed by the blood of the righteous Martyrs. The crown of thorns is placed on the heads of its Palestinian guardians just like its first redeemer Jesus, peace be upon him, when he walked on the Via Dolorosa.”
Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) – Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and car rammings. It started in September 2015 and as of July 2016, 40 people were murdered (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans, and 1 foreign worker from Eritrea) and over 500 wounded.
The Falash Mura are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity. In 2003, the Israeli government passed resolution 2948, granting Ethiopian descendants of Jewish mothers right to emigrate to Israel. Since then Israel has helped bring most of the Falash Mura to Israel.
Muhammad’s Night Journey - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have ridden 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."
Headline: “When Jerusalem tells [a story]”
“From the Damascus Gate Plaza – whose name became the Martyrs’ (Shahids’) Plaza following the last uprising in Jerusalem (apparently refers to several months of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis 2015 - 2016 –Ed.) – you reach a stone staircase… that descends into history… Most of the Israeli occupation soldiers here are from the Falash Mura (i.e., descendants of Ethiopian Jews; see note below) who say they are Hebrews! They tremble inside the guard posts, and sometimes some of them are close to the gate checking ID cards. They are afraid and avoid looking in the eyes of the owners [of the ID cards], the residents of the city. Around them is a purely Arab hubbub: the voices of the Arab farm girls selling vegetables in wicker baskets and youth ridiculing the occupation soldiers among themselves and laughing at them. The soldiers understand nothing of what is happening, which causes them to grip their automatic rifles tighter… The Falash Mura soldiers and the rest of the Zionist occupiers, who never in their history crossed the Euphrates River and who arrived from across the Atlantic Ocean, are a foreign sight (sic., the majority of Jews did not immigrate to Israel from across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Jewish people originated in Israel). Jerusalem is fighting [this sight] at every moment through the power of its history, its Arabic eloquence, the sanctity of its heavenly status, and its children’s resolve as guardians of this place and as knights, in order to redeem it from the occupation’s injustice and darkness and so that it will return to being a capital of peace, justice, truth, and beauty. There is no story in Jerusalem other than its story, which is strengthened by the sanctity of the [Night] Journey to Heaven by the Prophet of love Muhammad, peace be upon him, and which is perfumed by the blood of the righteous Martyrs. The crown of thorns is placed on the heads of its Palestinian guardians just like its first redeemer Jesus, peace be upon him, when he walked on the Via Dolorosa.”
Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) – Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and car rammings. It started in September 2015 and as of July 2016, 40 people were murdered (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans, and 1 foreign worker from Eritrea) and over 500 wounded.
The Falash Mura are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity. In 2003, the Israeli government passed resolution 2948, granting Ethiopian descendants of Jewish mothers right to emigrate to Israel. Since then Israel has helped bring most of the Falash Mura to Israel.
Muhammad’s Night Journey - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have ridden 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."