For over 10 years Raed Salah has held an annual demonstration in the city of Umm al-Fahm under the banner of “Al-Aqsa is in danger.” At these demonstrations there is blatant incitement against the State of Israel, accusing it of planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Initially these demonstrations were attended by hundreds, then by thousands and in recent years by several tens of thousands.

Slowly but surely, Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, succeeded in getting his message across. It was a message that reverberated in the hearts of Muslims around the world: One of the most holy sites of Islam, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, was in danger of being destroyed by Israel. The message is a lie.

This lie has been spread throughout the Islamic world very effectively, and is lighting a fire that will be difficult to extinguish. It is arousing anger in Arab capitals. The talk of Israeli changes in the status quo on the Temple Mount is just icing on the propaganda cake, an attempt to stop Jews from praying on the Temple Mount, as a first step to really changing the status quo there and keeping Jews off the Temple Mount. It is a minor charge compared to the real thrust of Salah’s attack on Israel, that it intends to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque, an allegation which has led to the daily violence in Jerusalem and protests from around the world. Salah has succeeded.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.