TEL AVIV — The Fatah movement, under the leadership of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, released a statement Monday marking 48 years since the Al Aqsa Mosque was set ablaze by a mentally ill Australian citizen, claiming that Israeli is an “occupying” country that has no sovereignty over the Mount and the Al Aqsa Mosque atop it.

Fatah has a history of using anti-Israel conspiracy theories about the Temple Mount to fuel violence and anti-Israel sentiment. The mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

“The movement emphasizes the fact that Israel is an occupying power and she has no sovereignty in east Jerusalem and certainly not over the Al Aqsa Mosque, including all the mosques at the compound, the Dome of the Rock, its courtyards and its walls,” Fatah said in the statement, which was published in Palestinian media outlets and the movement’s official websites.

It also stated, “On the 48th anniversary of the burning of the mosque by an Australian Zionist, we emphasize that Jerusalem and especially Al Aqsa are inseparable parts of the land that was occupied in 1967.”

Israel was not behind the mosque arson. On August 21, 1969, Denis Michael Rohan, an Australian found by a court to be insane, set fire to the Al Aqsa Mosque. He was arrested and stood trial in Israel. After the court found him to be mentally ill, Rohan was hospitalized in a mental institution and was deported on humanitarian grounds in 1974.

Fatah warned the Israeli government against any supposed attempt “to harm the Al Aqsa Mosque through actions above ground and actions below ground, or any attempt to divide the mosque, including a division of time (between Jewish and Muslim worshippers) or a physical division. We demand that the historic status quo and the laws of the site be maintained.”

Fatah called on the Arab and Muslim world to take their share of responsibility regarding Jerusalem and Al Aqsa “by giving political and financial support and praying at the Al Aqsa Mosque in order to help Jerusalem deal with Israel’s Judaization policy. The movement calls to encourage visits to the compound in order to preserve the Arab, Muslim and Christian identity of the Holy City.”

The statement wildly claimed, “The Zionist danger that stands before Jerusalem and Al Aqsa continues to exist (while) Israeli violations are ongoing and are reflected in the daily visits of the settlers and by falsifying the facts and the creation of a new reality on the ground that contradicts international conventions.”

Hamas also called on the Arab and Muslim world to shake off their apathy on issues regarding the Al Aqsa Mosque. It scolded countries “among which are those that are quick to normalize their relations with the enemy. The Arabs must wake up and stop cooperating with the schemes of normalization and the attempts to please the Zionists.”

The movement promised that on the 49th anniversary of the fire at the mosque, “it won’t recognize Israel and won’t agree to give up a single grain of sand from the land of Palestine. It will continue down the path of jihad and resistance until the expulsion of the occupation.”

The Iran-backed Islamic Jihad released a statement similar to that from Hamas calling on Arab countries to stop working toward normalization and take responsibility for the so-called defense of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The movement praised the residents of Jerusalem for their steadfast stand in “defense” of the mosque.

Last month, Muslims protested and engaged in violent riots after Israel installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount. Protest leaders, including top Palestinian officials, claimed the metal detectors were part of an Israeli conspiracy to hamper Muslim worship on the Mount. Israel’s new security measures were put into place in direct response to a Palestinian terrorist attack in which three assailants somehow smuggled weapons onto the site. After weeks of protests, Israel eventually removed the metal detectors from the site.