PA denies Jewish history in Israel

Excerpt of a column by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily

Headline: “The [PA] government and the municipalities”

“What has happened, what is happening, and what will happen? These are questions that we direct to the municipalities, the village councils in the homeland’s districts, and the [PA] Ministry of Local Government, in order to stop the leakage of our heritage – not only the architectural [heritage], but also the stones of our ancient homes, the special stones that bear the seal of the native Palestinian on this land. What has happened and is still happening is that the Zionist Jewish occupying invaders, who lack the components of identity and heritage that every people in the world possesses, are buying the stones of the very ancient Palestinian homes, and even those that were built only 100 years ago. They pay high sums in exchange for every stone, and they focus on buying stones with decorations that cannot be attributed to any historical period.

The most severe thing in this matter is that construction workers and contractors have become an executive arm acting in broad daylight to transfer precious treasures to the invading occupiers. The owners of the ancient homes do not know how to appreciate the historical value of their homes, and the responsible official bodies do not know how to appreciate the significance and status of every ancient stone, or how to treat it and preserve it.”