EXTREMISMScapegoating of Jews for the 1969 Al-Aqsa Arson Continued as Usual in 2022
August 21 marked the 53rd anniversary of the 1969 al-Aqsa Mosque arson and the ongoing disinformation campaigns scapegoating Jews and Israel for the attack. The culprit, Denis Michael Rohan – a Protestant extremist from Australia who believed his actions would prompt the Second Coming of Jesus – but Middle Eastern outlets have been publishing inaccurate reports of the event to this day.
August 21 marked the 53rd anniversary of the 1969 al-Aqsa Mosque arson and the ongoing disinformation campaigns scapegoating Jews and Israel for the attack. Although Israeli authorities promptly arrested, tried, and convicted the culprit, Denis Michael Rohan – a Protestant extremist from Australia who believed his actions would prompt the Second Coming of Jesus – Middle Eastern outlets have been publishing inaccurate reports of the event to this day. In a blog published last month, ADL flagged the upcoming anniversary and expressed concern about the annual broadcast of these false reports, which portray Rohan as a Jew and claim there is an Israeli conspiracy behind the crime. For decades, such disinformation campaigns have served to stir up public passions, incite violence against Israel, and deflect Middle Eastern publics’ attention away from the discontent in their own countries.
In 2022, the scapegoating of Jews and Israel for the 1969 al-Aqsa arson unsurprisingly continued with major statements by Iranian regime leaders and others. However, Turkey’s official outlets exercised notable restraint.
Palestinian Disinformation
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, an official daily of the Palestinian Authority, published a report the day before the fire’s anniversary, referring to Rohan as an “extremist Jew.” Furthermore, the report alleged that Israeli authorities deliberately impeded efforts to extinguish the fire:
· Our compatriots were then able to rescue what remained inside al-Aqsa Mosque before the fire ruined it, after fire trucks from Hebron, Bethlehem, and elsewhere in the West Bank and other municipalities had rushed to save al-Aqsa, despite attempts by the Israeli occupation authorities to prevent them from doing so and cutting off the water in the area surrounding the Mosque the day of the fire. In addition, the occupation’s fire trucks in Jerusalem were deliberately late in order not to partake in extinguishing the fire. (Emphasis added)
Similarly, the Palestinian Liberation Organization issued a statement, which referred to Rohan as being Jewish. The Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency, which enjoys a verified-account status on Twitter, also referred to the perpetrator as Jewish in its tweet commemorating the fire. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today TV also claimed that Rohan was Jewish in a tweet.
