Western Wall
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The Al-Azhar International Conference in Egypt concluded on Thursday with the publication of an official declaration announcing the year 2018 as the year of Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem –ed.).

The statement stresses that Al-Quds is the eternal capital of the independent state of Palestine, and that Al-Quds is not just “occupied” land or a Palestinian or Arab national issue but an Islamic and Christian holy place and an issue of Islamic and Christian faith.

According to the conference participants, the Arab character of Al-Quds has been a historical fact for thousands of years and "global Zionism" will not be able to falsify the facts since, the statement claimed, the Jebusites built the city in the fourth millennium BCE, long before the advent of Judaism.

In addition, the conference expressed full support for the steadfastness of the "Palestinian people" and the Intifada against the decisions of the American administration and the Israeli government regarding Jerusalem.

The participants in the conference appealed to the "wise" Jews and advised them to look at the periods of time in history in which the Jews were oppressed, except in countries that were under Muslim civilization.

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday addressed the same conference and claimed that the right of the Palestinians in Jerusalem is based on the "history" and the direct link between the Palestinians and their Canaanite "ancestors", whom he called "Arabs."

Abbas has previously claimed on official PA TV that a "Canaanite-Palestinian" people dating back over 6,000 years had existed, and further asserted that this people invented an alphabet.

Similarly, former PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat once claimed his people have lived in the Land of Israel for thousands of years.