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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22267/palestinians-al-aqsa-lie
The Palestinians' Big Lie about the Al-Aqsa Mosque
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Hamas has repeatedly justified its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by arguing that it was seeking to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest shrine in Islam. Hamas even named the attack "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood." Yet two years later, the Al-Aqsa Mosque remains intact, as tens of thousands of Muslims continue to visit it and pray there without being harassed. This shows that Hamas's claim that the Jews are desecrating the mosque is another big lie produced by the terror group and its supporters. It is worth noting that Jews do have a right to visit the Temple Mount, primarily because it is also the holiest site in Judaism, where the First and Second Temples once stood. Non-Muslims, including Jews and Christians, regularly tour outdoors on the grounds of the Temple Mount. But in recent years, Hamas and other Palestinians have been waging a campaign to protest visits by Jews to the Temple Mount. In 2000, the Palestinians baselessly accused Israel of planning to desecrate the mosque and seize control of it. These false allegations led to the eruption of the Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000-2005). Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians were killed during the violence, which included a massive wave of suicide bombings in major Israeli cities. In 2015, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said: "The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they [Jews] have no right to defile them with their filthy feet." Jews touring the Temple Mount compound, like other non-Muslim tourists, do not set foot inside the mosque. This has not stopped Palestinian officials and media from regurgitating the lie that the Jews are "violently storming and defiling" the mosque.