The leader of the "Islamic-Christian Front for Defending Jerusalem and its Holy Places," Hassan Khater, has issued a press release saying that there are now 218 synagogues in Jerusalem, and 70 of them in the Old City alone.
Khater also said that the synagogues are not being built because the Jews need them for religious purposes. He said that this is a clear plan by Israel "to change the image of the holy city, and change the inherent religious nature which distinguished it throughout its long history - the nature of the Arab, Islamic, Christian tradition."
Even assuming his numbers are correct (is he counting tiny "shtiebelach"? Is he counting different minyanim in different rooms in the same synagogue as one or many synagogues?), Khater also doesn't mention that his Arab brethren destroyed between 50 and 60 synagogues in the Old City between 1948 and 1967, so having 70 built in the past 43 years hardly seems excessive.
As usual, Khater and his compatriots are denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem that predates Islam by more years than Islam has been in existence. This is, simply put, Jew-hatred.
