PA official: Israel trying to "steal and falsify [Jerusalem's] history through excavations under" the Al-Aqsa Mosque, accused of forging antiquities to prove invented Jewish past

Headline: "Spokespersons at a press conference on the topic of settlement in the occupied capital: The cable car is part of a settlement plan to change Jerusalem’s landmarks"

"Spokespersons at a press conference held yesterday [Jan. 30, 2019] at the [PA] Ministry of Information building in Ramallah emphasized thatthe settlement plots that are being implemented in occupied Jerusalem, in addition to the settlement plan to establish a cable car in the Old City [of Jerusalem], are nothing but the first stage of an entire Israeli plan. This plan was formulated in 1983, and its goal is to change the city’s landmarks, take control of it, and blur the Palestinian and Arab presence within it…

Head of the Department for Jerusalem Affairs in the [PA] Presidential Office Mu'tasim Tyam said that the occupation has acted in Jerusalem to steal and falsify the city's history through excavations under the Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque(sic., Israel does not excavate under the Temple Mount; see note below) and an attempt to invent a false Talmudic (i.e., Jewish) story that will prove their right to the city(archeological findings and historical records confirm the Jewish connection to Jerusalem –Ed.). He added that they have stolen stones and written [fake inscriptions] on them in order to invent a new story."

Excavations under the Temple Mount - The Israeli daily Haaretz has stated that the excavations do not reach beneath the mosque: "Despite complaints from the Islamic Movement and Palestinian groups, not a single dig penetrates beneath the [Temple] Mount." [Haaretz, May 24, 2016]