For days now Ha’aretz has been avoiding an incredible story which really puts the lie to Palestinian claims of seeking peace (JPost had it covered a couple of days ago already). Today they finally published it, but from another news source instead of their own reporter.
What happened is that an official Palestinian Authority report has been published claiming that Jews have no religious connection to the Kotel. This report is apparently a response to a recently-announced Israeli plan to make modest renovations around the Kotel – the Jewish Western Wall, also known by Christians as the Wailing Wall – to better-serve tourists and visitors to the site. It also reflects the position of Yassir Arafat during the peace talks at Camp David and Taba when Israel offered the Palestinians a state and in Taba, shared sovereignty over the Temple Mount – an offer the Palestinians rejected.
The new PA report claims that the wall is Muslim, has always been Muslim, is owned by an Algerian Muslim family, has no historical relevance to Jews, is not connected to any Temple that may or may not have been in Jerusalem.
Again, this is an official Palestinian Authority report.
Here’s one response, that happens to be two years old, to what the PA is insinuating:
