PA researcher: Crusader first to say "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem"

CAN'T MAKE IT UP:

PA: "If I Forget Thee, Oh Jerusalem" First Said by Crusader

by Gavriel Queenann (Arutz Sheva)

Continuing its policy of denying Jerusalem's Jewish heritage the Palestinian Authority publicized the claims of an Arab researcher that the well-known ancient Hebrew psalm, "If I forget three, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill," is not Jewish at all, the Israeli research institute Palestininian Media Watch reports.

Instead, Dr. Hayel Sanduqa insists the words were uttered by a Christian Crusader, and have only recently been "borrowed" by Jews and "falsified in the name of Zionism."

[...]

The quotation is, of course, from Psalm 137:5 and dates roughly to the time of the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE.

The following are the words of Palestinian researcher Dr. Hayel Sanduqa on PA TV, claiming that the Hebrew Bible's psalm was actually first said by a Crusader:

"[The Israelis] have acted to change Jerusalem's character. Even the expression (Psalm 137:5) 'If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee.'

"This statement, said by the Frankish [Crusader] ruler of Acre shortly before he left, was borrowed by the Zionist movement, which falsified it in the name of Zionism," Sanduqa said. [PA TV (Fatah), June 2, 2011 -Ed].

Here's the video of the phone conversation. The context of the conversation is not given, but I have a hard time imagining how any context could make the claim less ridiculous.



Apart from this story, there's not much from Google on Dr. Hayel Sanduqa, but this 2008 PNN article refers to him as "the researcher of colonial affairs in Jerusalem."