PA official: Jews are committing "forgery of the geography and history" of Jerusalem, which has "no connection to the Jews"
Official PA TV News, interview with Secretary-General of the PA Islamic-Christian Council Hassan Khater on Israeli plans to establish biblical parks in the Issawiya and Silwan neighborhoods of Jerusalem
Secretary-General of the PA Islamic-Christian Council Hassan Khater: "The occupation authorities, after failing to find anything underground that would ascribe [validity to] their claims concerning the religious places holy to the Jews, are now attempting to build above ground that which they are not finding underground. They find religious symbols and place above ground... [symbols] of what the Bible talks about as they wish, as though these parks belonged to that period of history. This is a great forgery and a great framing of lies against the truth, geography, history, the right of the [Arab] residents of Jerusalem, and the right of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem…
What is happening is a real and direct forgery of the geography and history. A distortion of the facts. There is no such thing as this, a thing called 'biblical parks.' It is a sort of Zionist invention, one of the inventions of the occupation authorities, meant to erase the truth that is based on geography and to create a new picture with new elements, which have no connection to the Jews, which have no connection to the history of the city, and which have no connection whatsoever to the geography. It is a complete invention that assumes a religious and historical hue, which shows Jerusalem as if it were a Jewish city and holy to the Jews. This act in and of itself constitutes a great and dangerous forgery and an unprecedented fraud concerning the identity of the holy city, the culture and history of the holy city, which never witnessed such lies in any period."
Secretary-General of the PA Islamic-Christian Council Hassan Khater: "The occupation authorities, after failing to find anything underground that would ascribe [validity to] their claims concerning the religious places holy to the Jews, are now attempting to build above ground that which they are not finding underground. They find religious symbols and place above ground... [symbols] of what the Bible talks about as they wish, as though these parks belonged to that period of history. This is a great forgery and a great framing of lies against the truth, geography, history, the right of the [Arab] residents of Jerusalem, and the right of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem…
What is happening is a real and direct forgery of the geography and history. A distortion of the facts. There is no such thing as this, a thing called 'biblical parks.' It is a sort of Zionist invention, one of the inventions of the occupation authorities, meant to erase the truth that is based on geography and to create a new picture with new elements, which have no connection to the Jews, which have no connection to the history of the city, and which have no connection whatsoever to the geography. It is a complete invention that assumes a religious and historical hue, which shows Jerusalem as if it were a Jewish city and holy to the Jews. This act in and of itself constitutes a great and dangerous forgery and an unprecedented fraud concerning the identity of the holy city, the culture and history of the holy city, which never witnessed such lies in any period."