From Benny Morris:

Barak recalls Clinton telling him that during the Camp David talks he had attended Sunday services and the minister had preached a sermon mentioning Solomon, the king who built the First Temple. Later that evening, he had met Arafat and spoke of the sermon. Arafat had said: "There is nothing there [i.e., no trace of a temple on the Temple Mount]." Clinton responded that "not only the Jews but I, too, believe that under the surface there are remains of Solomon's temple." (At this point one of Clinton's [Jewish] aides whispered to the President that he should tell Arafat that this is his personal opinion, not an official American position.)

From Steven Stalinsky:

The theme that there is no Jewish connection to Jerusalem is also common in sermons and statements by Palestinian religious figures. For example, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the Mufti of Jerusalem and the highest ranking Palestinian religious figure gave an interview to the German Die Welt on January 17, 2001, stating, “There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history… The Jews do not even know exactly where their temple stood.” When the interviewer asked why he could not respect the Jewish connection to the place, he added, “It is the art of the Jews to deceive the world... There is not a single stone in the Wailing-Wall relating to Jewish History. The Jews cannot legitimately claim this wall, neither religiously nor historically.”

Palestinian textbooks:

As part of the overall de-legitimization, the books deny the continuity of the Jewish nation and its place in Israel, by severing modern Jewry and modern Israel from their history in the land. The children are taught that the Jews are not a nation, but rather, a religious group:

"The Jewish Question:
Zionist thinkers suggested a number of solutions to the problem of the non- integration of the Jews in the societies in which they were living in Eastern Europe... The Jews deluded themselves that their religious faith was sufficient to turn them into one nation. Their thinkers sought to find a national homeland for the Jews, similar to other nations."

[Modern Arab History and Contemporary Problems, Part II, for Tenth Grade #613, p. 49]

The denial of the Jewish claims to Israel and to Jerusalem specifically is a central tenet of Palestinian nationalism. Those who support Palestinian nationalism implicitly - and often, unknowingly - endorse this ahistorical view. Yet it is common. Recently the New York Times reported on the discovery of what might be King David's palace. Here's how the Times's reporter, Steven Erlanger frames the issue:

The find will also be used in the broad political battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their origins here and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians have said, including the late Yasir Arafat, the idea of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a myth used to justify conquest and occupation.

In other words it's a debate that's unsettled. Thus we have the anamoly that people who deny a decade of Jewish history are considered beyond the pale (except for a certain Dr. Abbas who got his doctorate in the subject) but those who deny 3000 years of Jewish history are "partners for peace."
It is necessary for the Palestinians to believe that there's no historical connection between Jews and Israel, and that Jews are Europeans who moved to and conquered their land. These myths give a legitimacy to their cause. It also makes Palestinian nationalism and Zionism mutually exclusive ideologies. One, Zionism, is based on the idea that after 2000 years of exile Jews are returning to their land. The other says that Jews have no ties to the land and therefore the Palestinians can determine what degree of a Jewish presence is legitimate.
And even if the Palestinian Authority ever abrogated its charter, this is such a deeply held belief among Palestinians that a simple vote would not reverse its force. Article 20, then, is the reason there's no peace in the Middle East and it will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.
Technorati tags Israel, Zionism