Bassam el-Shamaa' refutes Israeli claims concerning Jerusalem

CAIRO – 13 January 2018: Prominent historian Bassam el-Shamaa' continues his series of interviews and lectures aiming to refute Israeli and Zionist claims concerning the history of Jerusalem.

In his interview with “90 Deeqaqa” (90 Minutes) show three weeks ago, Shamaa' began by mentioning the Balfour Declaration during the First World War in 1917.

"Before the Balfour Declaration, there was another declaration issued by Napoleon Bonaparte," Shamaa' revealed. Bonaparte wanted to strengthen the French position in the Middle East, so he asked the Jewish communities to help him in return.

Shamaa' also stated that before selecting Palestine as the new homeland for Zionists, Argentina and Uganda were the earlier options considered as locations for Zionist repatriation.

Shedding light on the history of Jerusalem, Shamaa' started tracing the city’s origins; "Established and inhabited for the first time by an Arabic Canaanite tribe called the Jebusite, 5,000 years ago, and until the Ottoman Empire, the Jews have had no land in Palestine," Shamaa' stated.

Before the Balfour Declaration, the Jews had only two percent of Palestinian land, after the British Occupation they managed to increase their property to 5.7 percent, Shamaa' added.

He also explained that there is no historical relation between current Israeli groups and the historical Israeli tribe "Bani Israel" who are mentioned in the Qur'an and the Bible.

"A number of Jewish historians have traced the origins of modern Israeli/Zionists groups such as the Hungarian Jewish historian Arthur Koestler; he found out that the modern Israeli groups are originally derived from a tribe called the Khazars, who were a semi nomadic Turkic people," Shamaa' stressed.

Zionists still persevere in their attempts to erase the original identity of the city, and in addition, they are attempting to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque, Shamaa' remarked. He added that Israeli groups have not yet proved the existence of the third temple of King Solomon or King David.

He added that a number of Egyptian artifacts belonged to Ancient Egyptian King Thutmose III were unearthed near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"The Word ‘Israel’ is historically and linguistically wrong, this is the first fact that should be declared," Shamaa' stated. He added that they edited a number of chapters in the Old Testament so they would fit with Zionist agenda.

Shamaa' concluded his talk by saying that Israel exhibits great Islamic artistic artifacts in the Islamic Art Museum at Tel Aviv, and the Israeli people attribute many Arabic cultural traditions to themselves such as Arabic food. He declared the current Israeli state as a robbery of Arab heritage.