Jews pray at the Western Wall
Jews pray at the Western WallYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

A Palestinian Authority television station berated a PA newspaper for referring to the Western Wall as "the Wailing Wall" and implying by the use of that term that the Jewish people have a historical connection with the site, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported.

The host of the tv program stated: "[The Palestinian daily] Al-Ayyam from this morning: 'The Israeli Ministry of Transportation announced it yesterday. The project for extending the high-speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train line up to the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Wailing Wall) in the Old City of Jerusalem, has entered the stage of a feasibility study.' I don't know how Al-Ayyam can write 'Wailing Wall' on its front page, and not even put quotation marks."

The PA Ministry of Information issued a book in 2012 instructing journalists and citizens not to engage in "the Israeli and American dissemination of poisoned terms" to describe many objects and places. The Star of David was only to be called the "six pointed star," and the Western Wall was only to be called the "Al-Buraq Wall." Terms which implied a Jewish connection or Jewish presence were to be suppressed.

The Ministry of Information also issued guidelines requiring the use of language sanitizing acts of terrorism and murder against Israeli civilians, going so far as to mandate that suicide bombings be referred to as "Martyrdom-seeking operations."