At a conference held in Al-Bireh, the Palestinian leadership emphasized that Israel has no historical and religious connection to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem

Overview

• The Supreme Committee for Jerusalem Affairs^[1], under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (PA), organized a conference in Al-Bireh entitled “Property Documentation and the Historical Status of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.” The event was attended by clerics, researchers, historians and foreign diplomats. In his opening remarks, Ahmed al-Ruweidi, Mahmoud Abbas’s adviser on Jerusalem affairs, stated that the conference was being held following an express order from Mahmoud Abbas to examine the legal status of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque based on historical documents (Wafa News Agency, June 8, 2022). He noted that to this end, a team of expert researchers from the Jerusalem Affairs Unit at Mahmoud Abbas’s office was formed, and spent several months examining and analyzing documents from Turkey, Jordan, and Britain.

   
The conference in Al-Bireh (Ma’an, Wafa, June 8, 2022)

• In his speech to the conference participants, Mahmoud Abbas denied the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, calling Israel’s claims “groundless claims devoid of historical proof” and stressing the Muslims’ religious connection to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, citing the surah of the night journey (Surah 17, Verse 1) in the Quran, which describes Muhammad’s night journey from Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
• Speaking at the conference, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also denied the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. He accused Israel of falsifying archeological finds from digs under the Temple Mount and in the Old City of Jerusalem, in order to establish the Israeli narrative and distort the Islamic connection to the site. He noted that the purpose of the conference was to reinforce the Palestinian narrative and emphasize the Palestinians’ right to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.
• The PA continues to attempt to establish its status in Jerusalem and reinforce the city’s Palestinian and Islamic identity. This is in light of Hamas’s recent intensive efforts to position itself as a defender of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem, and possibly also in advance of the possibility of debating the issue in a future political process. To this end, it does not stop at denying and refuting the Jewish connection to the city and the holy sites, ostensibly relying on authentic documents that prove its claims.
• It should be noted that this is not the first time that the PA has relied on archival documents to prove ownership of land in Judea, Samaria, and East Jerusalem. For years, the PA and the Turkish government have been cooperating with each other, providing the Palestinians with documents from the Ottoman archives, especially with regard to land ownership. Special emphasis is placed on proving the Palestinian waqf’s ownership of Palestinian land in the Jerusalem area.
• The Palestinians see these documents as a means for proving ownership of land that Israel is attempting to take over, thus preventing it from being transferred to non-Palestinians. This move also realizes the so-called right of return through the registration of land owned by Palestinians living abroad. Moreover, the Ottoman documents are perceived as a tool for supporting claims against Israel in Israeli courts and international courts by proving the so-called Palestinian right to the land. As part of this cooperation, the Palestinians received a copy of the Ottoman State Archives containing many documents on the registration of Muslim and Palestinian land and properties in the Ottoman Empire between 1517-1914^[2].

Details of statements made during the conference

• The conference was opened by Ahmed al-Ruweidi, Mahmoud Abbas’s adviser on Jerusalem affairs, who noted that it was being held following an express order from Mahmoud Abbas to examine the legal status of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque based on historical documents. On his orders, a team of expert researchers from the Jerusalem Affairs Unit at Mahmoud Abbas’s office was formed and spent several months examining and analyzing various documents from 1855-2015, including documents from Turkey from the period of the Ottoman Empire, as well as documents from Jordan and Britain (Ma’an’s YouTube channel, June 8, 2022). Al-Ruweidi stressed the importance of documenting assets in Jerusalem in order to foil Israel’s plan to Judaize Jerusalem and “steal” Muslim-owned land and assets (Watan, June 8, 2022).

• Mahmoud Abbas addressed the conference attendees by telephone from his office in Ramallah. The following are highlights from his speech (Wafa News Agency, June 8, 2022):
  • After greeting the Jerusalemites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all those who are barricaded inside and staying there, he expressed his good wishes to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Christian residents of Jerusalem as well as all the conference participants, noting that the conference was convened as part of a desire to defend the Palestinian religious and historical narrative in the struggle against Israel’s “false and unfounded” narrative that is devoid of proof (the original Arabic: “rasid”, meaning “cover”) in history, reality or international law.
  • All the evidence and historical documents stress that Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and all the holy places are connected to Islam and Christianity. Muslims possess ironclad proof that appears in the Quran, in Surat al-Isra’ (Surah 17), which emphasizes the identity of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He quotes the first verse in the Surah: “Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”^[3]
  • Under no circumstances will we permit or accept a change in the legal and historical status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The conflict with Israel is political in origin and not religious. Jerusalem is not for sale and they intend to foil all the plots aimed at eliminating the Palestinian issue.
  •   He notes that the conference is of great importance because it establishes the Palestinian national, religious, legal, and historical right to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.

    
Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech by telephone from his office in Ramallah to the conference attendees in Al-Bireh (Wafa News Agency, June 8, 2022; Mahmoud Abbas’s Facebook page, June 8, 2022)

• Speaking at the conference, Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, director of the Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations^[4], emphasized that the Ottoman archive is a “treasure trove of ammunition” that proves the Palestinian right to everywhere (in Jerusalem). According to him, in documents from the 16th century, not one single charitable trust was registered under a Jewish name in Jerusalem or elsewhere, such as Hebron (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, June 8, 2022).
• Mohammad Shtayyeh, who delivered a speech to the participants shortly before the end of the conference, made the following points (Wafa News Agency, June 8, 2022):
  • He stressed the importance of the conference, which focuses on the struggle against one of the most important wars being waged by Israel, the war of the narrative (regarding the right to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount). Israel is falsifying the historical facts, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the city as a whole. It is working to change the facts on the ground and to create new facts that completely disregard Palestinian, Muslim and Christian history. All the historical facts prove that they are rooted in Jerusalem, and no one will manage to change the Palestinian presence from the Canaanite period to the present day.
  • Despite all the archeological excavations that Israel is carrying out, it will not succeed in proving its historical connection to Jerusalem. A total of 55 years of excavations and tunnels have not proved that there was a temple in the city. The prayers and ceremonies of Jews visiting the Temple Mount are also part of the falsification of the narrative that they are fighting against.
  •  The Palestinian government will adopt the conclusions and results of the conference and make decisions based on its recommendations. At the same time, they are carrying out the struggle by restoring the Old City, assisting its residents and strengthening their steadfastness, fortifying its institutions and supporting Palestinian merchants.

Interviews in the margins of the conference

•  In the margins of the conference, several participants gave interviews to the media. Khalil Karajah al-Rifai, chairman of the Methaq Center for Heritage and Islamic Research, noted that the conference was being held in the shadow of “repeated invasions” of the Temple Mount compound by Jews, and with a view to thwarting an Israeli plan to divide up the times and places where Muslims may pray on the Temple Mount. According to him, the main goal of the conference is to emphasize the Islamic connection to Jerusalem and to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to dispel Israeli claims of religious affiliation with the site. He noted that the institution that he heads provided assistance to the cause through research and collection of archival documents (Ma’an’s YouTube channel, June 8, 2022).

• Al-Quds University President Dr. Imad Abu Kishek stressed the importance of the conference, which is being held at a sensitive time in Jerusalem. He noted that the purpose of the conference was to emphasize the Palestinians’ historical and religious right to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to prove their ownership of private and public properties in East Jerusalem (Watan, June 8, 2022).

^[1] The Supreme Committee for Jerusalem Affairs (or the Supreme Committee of Al-Quds, as it is called in Arabic) was established in the 1990s by Faisal Husseini, a senior Palestinian official who was involved in negotiations with Israel. It was established in order to ensure that Jerusalem remained an integral part of the Palestinian territories. It operates on behalf of the Chairman of the PA and is appointed directly by him in accordance with a presidential order. The committee numbers 10 senior officials. The chairman of the committee is Mahmoud Abbas, and his deputy is Mohammad Shtayyeh. Other members include Jerusalem District Governor Adnan Ghaith, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi al-Hadami, and the Mufti of the PA and Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein. The committee is in charge of formulating a strategy to thwart Israeli plans for the Judaization of Jerusalem and to strengthen the steadfastness of the residents of East Jerusalem. ↑

^[2] See the ITIC’s Information Bulletin from March 15, 2018: “The Palestinian Authority in collaboration with Turkey is searching the Ottoman State Archives for documentation regarding Palestinian ownership of lands, including waqf property in Jerusalem, to prevent land from being sold to Israel.” ↑

^[3] Sahih International translation of the Quran ↑

^[4] A non-governmental and apolitical institution for research on Arab and Islamic history, founded in 2004 in Beirut and operating from there. ↑

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