Jerusalem was never mentioned nor once referred to in the PLO Charter of 1964

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Jerusalem was never mentioned nor once referred to in the PLO Charter of 1964. Let me repeat. When the Palestinians wrote their original Charter in 1964 there was no mention of nor claim to the city they now promote as being theirs by right since time immemorial. This is yet further proof beyond doubt that the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem is a lie.

I am returning to this subject once again as I am of the firm conviction that repeating this truth is one of the most powerful weapons intellectually available to counteract the pro-Palestinian industry.

There is a popular but false narrative currently used to delegitimize the Jewish State of Israel. The narrative which through weight of global propaganda, ignorance and simple Jew hatred claims that Israel is an illegitimate colonial power and the geography ‘occupied’ by Israel belongs to the Palestinians legally, historically and religiously. Such revisionism is easily debunked and paradoxically exposes that supporting the Palestinian religious claims are Islamophobic.

Palestinians were never an ancient people, tribe, nation, race nor culture but are in fact a twentieth century construct created by those parties hostile to the Jewish State of Israel.  Since time immemorial there has never been a war, battle or conflict fought by those identifying as indigenous Palestinians against any foreign or domestic invader in an effort to reclaim occupied Palestinian lands. History identifies the numerous conflicts fought by Jews against invaders such as the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans among others but alas finds no evidence of the Palestinians linked to conflict in efforts to reclaim their ‘indigenous’ land. Why? Because the Palestinians like silicone breast implants were an invention of the 1960’s.

There are no historic cemeteries nor artefacts proving a Palestinian existence. There has never been a Palestinian currency, emblem, historic leader nor language. No buildings standing or destroyed in the geography were constructed by those identifying as indigenous Palestinians. No itinerant scribe through the ages ever made reference to the Palestinians as a nation, sect, race, tribe or culture. The comprehensive Hope Simpson Report of October 1930 commissioned by HM Government not once referred to the Palestinians. Muslims, Mohammedans or Arabs but not Palestinians. The Palestinians had not yet been invented.

From a religious Islamic perspective, the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem rather like the Palestinian historical claim is also a false narrative. A narrative which actually defies the Quran and the words of Allah and the prophet, Mohammed. Neither the Palestinians nor Jerusalem are ever noted within the Quran. However, in numerous Suras, the Quran bestows, bequeaths and promises the Land of Milk and Honey or The Promised Land, today’s Israel, to the Children of Israel, the Jewish people. To support Palestinian claims to the land is to ignore, defy and mock the will of Allah and thus must be Islamophobic.

Let us repeat. Neither Jerusalem nor the Palestinians are mentioned in the Quran yet the current false narrative promoted by those enemies of the Jewish State is that Jerusalem is sacred to Palestinians. This false narrative should be offensive to Islam and its millions of adherents and must be undoubtedly unpalatable to the Palestinians and their global support base. Nevertheless, support for the Palestinians is to ignore, mock and defy the Quran, Allah and the prophet Mohammed.

Such facts totally debunk the Palestinian claims to the geography which has been promised to the Jewish people according to the Quran. For Muslims this is an actuality and an undisputable and undeniable albeit an unpalatable truth. According to many brave Imams and Muslim intellectuals, Islam is in current turmoil and will continue to be in turmoil until the false Palestinian narrative is exposed and totally repudiated.

The facts are simple enough.

Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Quran. It is mentioned 669 times in the Old Testament and if one considers the use of the word Zion which sometimes means Jerusalem then add another 154 to the 669.

Jerusalem is always said in Jewish prayers, grace after meals and the Passover Festival ending. It holds no significance in Islamic prayer. Muslims never mention Jerusalem in their prayers.

Originally all Muslims prayed towards the Ka’ba, the stone structure at the center of the main mosque in Mecca. In an effort to convert Jews to Islam a number of Jewish friendly practices were implemented including a change in the direction of prayer, the Qibla, from Mecca towards the Temple Mount.

Many Jews pretended to convert (in order to stop paying taxes as it was not permitted for Muslims to tax other Muslims) but maintained their Judaism. Thus, the Qibla, the direction of prayer, which for some eighteen months instructed Muslims to change direction was abruptly overturned in Sura 2.14 – 52 to contemptuously link Judaism for time immemorial with facing the Temple Mount. The irony of all ironies that the Quran only connects the direction of prayer facing Jerusalem with Judaism and not Islam.

The world at large has been brainwashed to believe that irrespective of the points above, Jerusalem is considered to be Islam’s third holiest city by citing and repeating a connection that historically could not have happened. According to the Night Journey (Sura 17.1) the prophet Mohammed ascended to Heaven supposedly from The Sacred Mosque located in Mecca, to The Furthest Mosque. Lies and years of successfully promoting a false narrative have created fact from fiction. The Furthest Mosque is now supposedly the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This is historically, physically, academically and factually impossible. Only fiction, propaganda, false narrative and fake news has allowed this lie to spread and morph into truth.

The historic timeline is that the spiritual ascendency was circa 621 AD and Mohammed died in 632 CE. However, the Al Aqsa Mosque was built between 705 and 715 CE. Therefore, whatever Mosque the alleged Night Journey assumed was The Furthest Mosque it was certainly not The Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for that Mosque did not exist during the prophet’s lifetime.

The “Furthest Mosque” was never originally identified with a Mosque in Jerusalem by Muslims – it was associated with Arabia either Medina or Ji’rana near Mecca and visited by Mohammed circa 630 AD.

Further proof of the lie that Jerusalem is of importance from a religious perspective to Palestinians is the absence of Sura 17.1, the story of the Night Journey, from the 240-meter mosaic frieze inside the Dome of the Rock. It does not appear. This proves beyond doubt that the Night Journey had not even been thought of or even tenuously linked to Jerusalem in the Quran.

Other Islamic scholars note, to the embarrassment of modern Islam and the Palestinians that Mohammed never set foot on the Rock in Jerusalem.

Mohammed ibn al-Hanafiya (638 – 700) a close relative of the prophet was scathing in his statement that only Abraham and not Mohammed was responsible for this sacred act.

In 715, the Umayyads (Syrians), in order to increase their following and link the event to Jerusalem, built a mosque on the Temple Mount and called it the Furthest Mosque (al-Masjid-al-Aqsa) and this was the event that centuries after attempted, successfully as it happens to link Jerusalem to a mosque now alluded to as the Furthest Mosque . Nowhere within Islamic tenets is mention of Jerusalem being the third holiest site in Islam.

Jerusalem was never an Arab capital even during Islamic control over the city. Indeed, there are numerous accounts from both local and itinerant scholars, scribes, writers and biographers from the 7th to the 19th century (Bishop Arculf, Thomas Shaw, Count Constantine Volney, Flaubert, Melville, Thackeray, Twain and others) describing the dilapidated condition of Jerusalem under Islam. The photographic evidence of Leo Kahn and Dwight Elmendorf in the early 20th century provide further evidence of the demise of Jerusalem supposedly Muslim’s third holiest city when under Islamic occupation. Historically Islam allowed Jerusalem to deteriorate during every period when it was the controlling religion over the city.

Jerusalem was never mentioned nor once referred to in the PLO Charter of 1964. Let me repeat. When the Palestinians wrote their original Charter in 1964 there was no mention of nor claim to the city they now promote as being theirs by right since time immemorial. This is yet further proof beyond doubt that the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem is a lie.

The Arab word for Jerusalem is ‘Al Quds’ which is an abbreviation of ‘Bayt al Maqdes’ translated means The Holy House. Both of these terms are a direct illegitimate pronunciation of the original and still current Hebrew ‘Beyt ha – Mikdash’, The Holy Temple. But Islam has never had a Temple, only the Jews had one. Thus, the Arabic name for Jerusalem has no connection to Mohammed’s heavenly ascendency but refers to the Jewish Temple.

Under Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967 not one Arab Head of State visited Jerusalem. Indeed, so religiously unimportant was Jerusalem that Friday prayers stopped being broadcast from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and transferred to a Mosque in Amman. The Jordanians made a concerted effort to reduce the importance of Jerusalem both religiously and administratively. All Government Offices except for the Ministry of Tourism were closed and relocated to Amman – these included the Arab High Commission, the Supreme Muslim Council, the Treasury of the Waqf and the Religious Endowment bureaus.

During every period of Islamic Arab control Jerusalem was never a city of religious nor administrative importance and was never made a capital.

Jerusalem was made holy by the Jewish King David and has never been the capital of any other nation other than the Jewish nation. It was historically the capital of Judah for over 1000 years, 2500 years before Islam was invented.

There are many instances of Palestinians destroying property and goods within the Holy Temple – defiling carpets, furniture, books and artefacts on the Temple Mount. Irrespective of the religion of any individual or group all places of worship should be treated with respect. Recent history verifies that the Palestinians have ignored this fundamental moral rule for places of worship within Jerusalem.

As noted there are numerous Suras in the Quran identifying that the land of Israel was given by Allah to the Jewish people. A selection of Suras within the Quran are listed below and just a few examples of the translated text which leaves no doubt as to the express content, commands and demands of Allah.

Al Baqara: 2.40/2.47/2.63/2.65/2.83/2.87/2.122,

Al Maida: 5.12 /5.20/5.21/5.70,

Al Aaraf: 7.137/7.138/7.139,

Yunus: 10.93,

Al Israa: 17.2/17.104,

Ta Ha: 20.80,

Al Qasas: 28.3,

Al Sajdah: 32.22,

Al Mu’min: 40.53,

Al Dukhan: 44.32,

Al Jathiyah: 45.16/45.17,

Al Hadid: 57.26.

2.47 “O Children of Israel. Call to mind the special favor which I bestowed upon You and that I preferred you above the whole world”.

5.21 “O Children of Israel enter the Holy Land (al-Ard al-Muqaddasa) which Allah has assigned to you”.

7.137 “And We, Allah made a people considered weak, the inheritors of lands in both East and West lands, whereon We sent down our blessings. The promise of the Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel”.

7.138 “We took the Children of Israel to safety across the sea….”

10.93 “We settled the Children of Israel in a beautiful dwelling place….”

17.104 “And We Allah said to the Children of Israel dwell securely in the Promised Land”.

44.32 “And We Allah, knowingly chose the People of Israel above all other nations”.

In all these Suras it is beyond doubt that Allah is unequivocally bestowing, bequeathing, promising and rewarding the totality of the land to the Children of Israel, the Jewish people. In clear Arabic this is unambiguous and beyond contradiction. Any claims to the contrary such as those promoted by the Palestinians are to defy and mock Allah.

Those Muslims claiming Jerusalem to be the historic capital of the Palestinians are actually in contempt of the Quran. Such contempt paradoxically is somewhat Islamophobic is it not? And those supporting the Palestinian claims and cause are therefore Islamophobic too, surely?  Where is my logic flawed on this?  The selection of quotes above directly from some Suras totally invalidate all and any Palestinian geographical claims from a religious perspective and indeed mock Allah.

Many contemporary Islamic scholars such as Mohammed Abu Zayd, Abdul Hadi Palazzi and Sheihk Ahmad Adwan are suggesting that it is the false Palestinian claim to Jerusalem that is causing the violent rifts in modern Islam.  Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Lebanon and the Sahel region in Africa are just a few examples where Islamists are committing atrocities on Muslims (and other races and religions too). Scholars are suggesting that such immoral behavior will continue until the false Palestinian claims to Jerusalem are erased from the current Islamic narrative.

There will be those reading this article who will point to the various Suras within the Quran which demand the elimination of the ‘Jews’ and understandably question the contradictions to the Suras alluded to which are obviously pro Zionist. There are no contradictions because the Quran when referring in the collective term ‘Yahudis’ or Jews is not referring to the collective Jewish/Hebrew population but only to those minority of militants within the Hebrew nation.

The term ‘Jews’ was originally used as a negative to describe the Jewish militants under Christ, who came from Judea hence he was known as King of the Jews and not, for example, King of the Children of Israel. It was only in the Middle Ages that the term ‘Jews’ was used as the general collective for the entire Jewish population. Up until then and certainly when the Quran was written the collective term used for the Jewish people was usually Children of Israel, the Chosen People, People or House of Israel. Sometimes Children of Abraham was also used. All these terms are used when describing a positive within the Quran and the Islamic support for the Jewish people to inhabit the geography now called Israel and including Jerusalem.

Islamic scholars from previous centuries realized and noted the absurd, irreligious propaganda linking the importance and relevance of Jerusalem to Islam. Most notable of such learned men were Yaqut 1179 – 1229, Ibn Taymiya, 1263 – 1328 and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziya, 1292-1350. Ironically the monster of Libya, Gaddafi, at a meeting of Arab leaders in March 2001, mocked the Arab Palestinian leadership for their false connection to Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, many Qurans published and printed after 1970 are revisionist in the extreme by alluding to Jerusalem and Palestinian rights in verses which originally made no such references. Another reason given by various scholars as to why Islam is in such dire straits currently. Revising Quranic text has politically assisted the false Palestinian claims but is beyond Islamic redemption.

It may be worth noting that the only time in the last 3000 years that Jerusalem was ‘Jew free’ was when Jordan invaded in 1948 and ethnically cleansed East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. During this period of Jordanian occupation, Jerusalem was totally defiled by its Muslim occupiers.

One can analyze from the facts above that any Palestinian claim to Jerusalem is a myth.

The claim to Jerusalem by Palestinians is a false claim and is just the start of a land grab with the purpose of controlling the whole of the Middle East of which Islam currently controls 99.98 per cent. According to the eminent Arab historian Joseph Farah in his essay Myths of the Middle East, “Israel represents one tenth of one per cent of the land mass. But that’s too much for the Arabs. They want it all and that is ultimately what the fighting is about today….no matter how many land concessions Israel makes, it will never be enough”.

Unfortunately Israel and her supporters have been overwhelmed by an opposition only too willing to exploit myths and propagate hate to a silent , uninformed majority who through inertia , ignorance and bigotry have allowed such propaganda to permeate the media , academia and political and religious debate  to Israel’s detriment and delegitimize Israel’s legal , historical , political and religious heritage.

It’s time to challenge and what better weapon in the armory than to verify that the Quran unequivocally supports Zionism and that Palestinian claims to the geography mocks Allah and Mohammed and defies some of the Quran’s most important tenets. Support for the Palestinian religious claims are undoubtedly Islamophobic.

1 COMMENT

  1. Thank you Peter Baum for a detailed and clear explanation of a long-discussed matter which has caused great confusion. May all continue to live in peace the world over.

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