Who is this Palestinian Leader Lying to – Israelis or Palestinians?

Is Rajoub lying? He conveys compromising statements in Hebrew to Israelis and uncompromising statements in Arabic to Palestinians.

On Saturday, Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub gave an interview in Hebrew to Israel’s Channel 2, during which he stated that Palestinians understand that the Western Wall is “holy for the Jews,” and that it should be under Jewish sovereignty.

“We understand that the Wall [President Donald Trump] visited [in May] is sacred to the Jews, and ultimately it has to remain under Jewish sovereignty,” Rajoub said. “There is no argument over this. Obviously, it’s a holy place for Jews.”

He said that while the Western Wall should remain under Israeli control, the Temple Mount belongs to the Palestinians. “The Temple Mount is ours, not yours, and I think you should stop talking as if it’s yours. That’s the status quo since 1967, as established by [former Israeli Minister of Defense] Moshe Dayan, and we both have to strive for that. If you want to create an explosion just say, “‘it’s ours, it’s ours.’”

Rajoub’s remarks depart from the official Palestinian policy of labeling all of Jerusalem as “occupied territory” that will be integrated into a future Palestinian state.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem slammed Rajoub’s comments as a “national crime,” namely the “abuse of the Palestinian people and their holy places.” Such statements undermine “the struggle and sacrifices of the Palestinian people,” Qassem added.

However, while later addressing Palestinians in Arabic, Rajoub denies having made this statement. Rather, he claims to have said that the site should be “under Jewish religious supervision,” and wrote explicitly on his personal Facebook page: “I did not mention the word sovereignty or Israel.”

He also accused Israeli TV of editing out parts of the interview with him.

“Several hostile news websites and writers for hire have reported that I renounced the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., Western Wall) or Jerusalem… What I said was that when [US President Donald] Trump visited the Al-Buraq Wall, which is holy to the Jews, he did not agree that any Israeli would accompany him, and that this constitutes a message that he does not recognize the legitimacy of your [Israel’s] sovereignty over the site. That is all that I said on Channel 2, and I did not mention the word sovereignty or Israel at all. Those were my words, as I said them. Ignore the dogs, because despite the barking, the convoy will definitely pass,” Rajoub claimed on the Fatah Central Committee Facebook page on Sunday, according to a translation by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

The Palestinian Leadership’s Duplicity

PMW points out that the contradiction between the compromising statements by Rajoub in Hebrew to Israelis and his uncompromising statements in Arabic to Palestinians is yet another example of the duplicity of the Palestinian leadership.

Rajoub’s statement to Israelis was reported widely in the Israeli press, as well as the international press. PMW says it urges the Israeli and international press to always verify anything told to them by Palestinian leaders with what PMW has reported to be their authentic opinions expressed in Arabic to their own people.

Just last week, PMW exposed Rajoub as two-faced, he conveys messages of peace to his English-speaking audiences, while calling for Israel’s destruction in Arabic.

By: United with Israel Staff and JNS.org