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Palestinian Authority Claims That Ancient Jews and Pagans Were All ‘Palestinians’
The Israeli flag at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.
One of the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s biggest problems is its identity complex. It knows that the Jewish people have been in the Land of Israel for thousands of years, while there is no Palestinian Arab history prior to the last few decades and therefore no ancient Palestinian identity.
The PA often lies that Palestinians are the descendants of Canaanites, and denies the authenticity of thousands of archeological finds attesting to the kingdoms of Israel and Judea.
Now, the PA has created a new magic trick: Turn everyone in the land since the Stone Age — pagans, Jews, and Christians — into Palestinians.
By saying that the kingdoms of Israel and Judea were Palestinian kingdoms, all the antiquities proving Jewish/Israeli history then magically instead prove Palestinian history.
All of this idiocy is being disseminated by the director-general of the PA Ministry of Culture and Antiquities, Dirgham Al-Fares:
The Palestinian people are a direct continuation of the original inhabitants from the Stone Age to the present.
The Palestinian people were pagan, who worshipped El, Baal, Ishtar, and Anat, and it is the people that developed the concept of God and adopted the Jewish religion, Christianity, and Islam.
Therefore, the Palestinian people own the land and history, and all the antiquities in it are the property of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people [of today] is the legitimate heir, and everything the occupation [i.e., Israel] says is untrue … Everyone knows that the Zionist claims are no longer historically acceptable. [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Resolve and Confrontation, Nov. 27, 2024]
After turning the Biblical Jews into Palestinians, the PA turns today’s Israeli Jews into “foreigners who stole the name ‘Israel’”:
Syrian political commentator Husam Shuaib: “Those who remain today in Palestine as occupiers are Talmudist foreigners who stole the name ‘Israel,’ and with this name they succeeded in marketing a religion with which they are not in fact affiliated, but they convinced the West that they are affiliated with it.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Capital of Capitals – Damascus, Nov. 10, 2024]
Once the magic trick is performed, the PA turns the narrative on its head and says that it is the Jews who “falsify the narrative and falsify the antiquities”:
PA Nablus District Governor Ghassan Daghlas: “We say to the world that we have antiquities. We have a history, and we have an existence [from] before the occupation [i.e., Israel] arrived. The occupation wants to falsify the narrative and falsify the antiquities, and we say to the world that the occupation is fake, while the roots of the Palestinian people are planted in its land.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Nov. 20, 2024]
After fabricating the idea that the Jewish people have no history in the Land of Israel, and that all evidence proves the Palestinian narrative, the PA can then totally delegitimize the Jews. And, when it delegitimizes them, it can encourage violence against them in order to drive them out so that those with the “real roots” remain:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The Al-Aqsa Mosque is our mosque. They [the Jews] have no right to even one millimeter of it. It is an Islamic mosque, and if they are talking about an alleged Temple, let them look for it somewhere else, because there was never any Temple, presence, or sovereignty of theirs here at this pure Islamic place, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and occupied Jerusalem.” [emphasis added]
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Aug. 27, 2024]
Al-Azhar Cleric Sheikh Yasser Mustafa Younes: “I say to Israel, to this Zionist entity, and to those who stand behind it that you will not impose this reality on the Muslims… This Al-Aqsa Mosque and lofty Jerusalem are a right of Muslim waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment) and a red line that is not up for negotiations, bargaining, or half-solutions. We have no partners there at all. It is Muslim and it is Muslim land, Arab land, Islamic land – the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all the 144 sq. meters around it [i.e., the entire Temple Mount, reaching the Western Wall] are all an Islamic waqf … The right will return to its owners sooner or later… History will repeat itself and you [Jews] will be removed from this land.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, April 23, 2024]
Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director, and Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to PMW. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Authority Claims That Ancient Jews and Pagans Were All ‘Palestinians’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.