The PLO wants the Temple Mount "status quo" from the 19th century

On Monday, quoting the official Palestinian Authority news service, I showed that the "status quo" that the Palestinian Arabs insist on for the Temple Mount is one where there are no Jews allowed whatsoever.

I surmised that the "status quo" they insisted on was from 1949, the beginning of the Transjordanian occupation of the Old City.

I was wrong. The PLO Negotiations Affairs Department informs us that the "status quo" that they insist on is much earlier than that:

The Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound is a holy site comprised of 144 dunums of land1, which includes the two mosques (the Dome of the Rock and Al-Qibli) as well as open areas for prayers around them. The Status Quo of Religious Sites which mandates prayer rights, right to access, and excavation and maintenance regulations, dates back to the Ottoman Period. However since 1967, Israel, the occupying power, has effectively changed Al-Aqsa’s Status Quo through several policies, including terror attacks, the destruction of the ancient Minbar (prayer platform) of Salah ad-Deen al Ayyubi (1969), several military raids and storming of the compound, including the one led by former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon (2000), illegal and unauthorized excavations, destruction of 20 Islamic graves to make room for the “Jewish Biblical Garden” (2014), as well as systematic closures over the Holy Site.

The entire document is filled with lies, but here are a couple to note from just this short section.

"The destruction of the ancient Minbar (prayer platform) of Salah ad-Deen al Ayyubi (1969)" refers to the arson at the Al Aqsa Mosque done by a mentally ill Christian. Only rabid conspiracy theorists blame Israel. And here, the PLO does also.

 "illegal and unauthorized excavations" - since Israel does not excavate on the Temple Mount (but the Waqf does and has destroyed uncountable priceless artifacts), this means that the PLO is declaring the entire area around the Mount to be part of Al Aqsa. This is confirmed by their assertion of "destruction of 20 Islamic graves to make room for the 'Jewish Biblical Garden'" - the graves were both new and many were fake, placed near the walls of the Mount illegally, but they were not on the Mount itself.

Which means that the PLO is saying that they also want the Ottoman "status quo" to apply to areas adjacent to the Temple Mount, including the Western Wall.


(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

---

This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 11 years and over 22,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

---