At the beginning of the month, there was a great deal of controversy surrounding an article written by a top Palestinian official from the Palestinian Information Ministry.  The article stated that the Western Wall had no connection to the Biblical Jewish Temples, refuting mountains of archaological and historical evidence to the contrary.  The report, which had been published on an official government website, was met by strong protest from Israel and America.  The US State Department issued a statement calling the article, “factually incorrect, insensitive and highly provocative.”  And the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement imploring the Palestinian President, Muhammad Abbas, to clarify that the Palestinians do in fact recognize the Jewish people and their historical connection to the Western Wall and the city of Jerusalem.  The Palestinian Authority did end up taking the article down, but there is clearly a large gap in historical knowledge and cultural representation.