The lies they teach their children

I was sitting in a church in Jerusalem’s Old City with participants on a program I work with; young Jews from around the globe, living here for a year to learn about Israeli society and politics.

We wanted them to hear from different religious leaders, and here we were, meeting with a young, Palestinian Christian priest.

He called for an end to Israeli control of the Old City saying that under Arab control “all religions would be respected”.  One of my group remarked that Jews could be forgiven for being sceptical given that no Jew was allowed to set foot in the Old City during the years of Jordanian control between 1949-1967.  Our speaker’s response?  “I’ve never heard of this before.  I’m sure that’s not how it was.”

It reminded me of a taxi journey I took with an Arab driver some months ago.  He was from East Jerusalem.  He told me that his grandfather could remember a time when there were no Jews living in Jerusalem.  I wondered out loud that that seemed unlikely, as there had been a continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem for many centuries, and that Jews had actually been the majority population in Jerusalem for the past 150 years.  He told me I had my facts wrong.

I should not have been so surprised.  The official Palestinian position on the Temple Mount is that the Jews have no claim to it; that it was never the site of the First and Second Temples.

It is worth comparing this policy of 'Temple denial' with a guidebook published by the Muslim authorities in Palestine in 1925.  About the Temple Mount the following is said:

"Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute."

The current Palestinian position is not derived from Islam.  It is political.  Its purpose is to paint a picture:  Israel is a western implant.  The Jews are interlopers in this land with no historical or religious ties.

Palestinians are not being taught the truth about Arab misdeeds, or about the Jewish connection to the land.  Instead, they are being fed a narrative that delegitimises Israel and denies its importance to the Jewish people.

My heart sinks when I hear educated Arabs like the young priest demonstrate such ignorance of basic historical facts.  What are they being taught? And how much hate will it sow?

Yes the truth may hurt; but, in this region, lies can kill. 

This was published in The Jewish News on 12/2/2010