Before getting into this story, it should be noted that many Palestinian Muslims, much like many Israeli Jews, fail to see the difference between Catholics and Protestants, and lump them all together as Christians. It is therefore not uncommon for the Palestinian Authority to turn to the Pope in efforts to influence the Christian world, even though the one billion Protestants and hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians would never take directives from the Vatican.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas did just that earlier this month when he called the Pope and tried to incite the Catholic Church against Israel.

According to a report by Palestinian Media Watch published on Tuesday, Abbas repeated the libel that the State of Israel “attacks” Christian and Muslim holy sites.

“His Honor [Abbas] updated Pope Francis on the attacks to which the Christian and Islamic holy sites are being subjected, especially the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque,” both in Jerusalem, stated official PA TV news on July 12, shortly before US President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East.

For more on this shameful effort, which is being echoed by deceitful Christian clergy, see: Church Spokesman Lies About Why Jerusalem’s Christian Population Shrank

This is an ongoing motif of rhetoric from Abbas, who has said that the “occupation […] desecrates the sanctity  of our holy sites.” Abbas said this on official PA TV news on March 31, according to the report.

Palestinian Media Watch restated the fact that the PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as being an integral part of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound; as such, they vilify any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount.

It has documented numerous such statements that refer to the presence of Jews at these places as “invasions,” “break-ins” and “attacks.” The statements also expose the PA’s antisemitic ideologies, declaring that the presence of Jews “defiles” and “desecrates” these holy sites.

With reporting by JNS.