The Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The official news agency of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Wafa, said Jews visiting the Western Wall during Tuesday’s Tisha B’Av fast “desecrated” a Muslim holy site.

“Last night, thousands of settlers desecrated the Plaza of Al-Buraq Wall, the western wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and held a festive event, prayers and Talmudic ceremonies on the occasion of what is called the Ninth of Av according to the Hebrew calendar, or the so-called Destruction of the Temple,” Wafa reported, using the Arabic name for the Western Wall and describing the Jewish holy site as part of the mosque situated on the Temple Mount compound.

Wafa added, “The settlers hurried to arrive to the Old City of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) in a number of processions, characterized by improper behavior, which was protected by occupation forces (Israeli security), until they reached the Al-Buraq Plaza. The imaginary-temple groups announced the organization of a large procession from one of the gates of the Old City.”

The PA media outlet’s claim that the Western Wall and Temple Mount are exclusively Muslim holy sites marks the latest example of what legal experts have described as “narrative warfare” against Israel and Jews.

In July, the United Nations cultural body UNESCO passed a Palestinian-initiated resolution declaring Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, as an endangered Palestinian heritage site. Last October, UNESCO passed two separate resolutions ignoring Jewish ties to Jerusalem’s holy sites.