Female Islamist activists on Temple Mount (file)
Female Islamist activists on Temple Mount (file)Reuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Holy Sites and Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Idis has claimed that the Israeli government is spreading "lies" about the history of Jerusalem, the 3,000-year-old capital of the Jewish people.

According to the sheikh, the fact that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the ruins of the First and Second Temple on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, and that Jews are forbidden from praying at the site by the Jordanian Waqf, is all just propaganda.

Idis said Israel is trying to give Al-Aqsa Mosque a "Jewish Talmudic" nature via daily "break-ins" by "settlers" to the Temple Mount, thereby causing a "desecration" to the site he says is holy to Muslims. He said Jewish visits to the site are meant to make the public think Jews have a connection to the site.

"The carcinogenic plan" of Israel to "Judaize" the Mount and to divide access times allowing Jews to pray at the site, as is done at Hevron's Cave of Machpelah, is a threat to Al-Aqsa, said Idis.

As if these claims were not enough, he went on to accuse Israel of stealing ancient Islamic artifacts from the site and using it to hold events for Jews.

Idis's claims are in fact a reversal of the actual situation on the Mount, where Arabs desecrate the holy site by holding soccer games against the law, and even have clowns perform.

They also have tried to erase the Jewish nature of the site, where the First and Second Temples stood, by destroying ancient Jewish artifacts and building illegally.

Constant Arab rioting on the site has been used to try and block Jews from visiting the Mount, as part of an Arab push to conquer the Temple Mount.