How Important Was It for Jordan to Keep Jews from the Western Wall?

How important was it for Jordan to keep Jews from the Western Wall is perhaps a long question.

The short answer is here:

Instead of fulfilling their obligations as per the Armistice Agreements of 1949, Article VIII, 2, to provide

free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives

and thereby benefiting their own citizens, Jordan preferred to be anti-Jewish.

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"Moderate" Jordan Keeping Matter Calm (Not)

Straight from the official news site of the Kingdom:

Extremist settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque 
Ramallah, Dec.17 (Petra) -- Groups of extremist settlers Sunday continued their provocative storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque yards/ Haram Al Sharif, a Palestinian official source told Petra.

The Director General of the Islamic Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Affairs, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, told Petra's reporter in Ramallah that extremist Jewish settlers continued their storming into the Muslims' holy shrine entering from the Bab al Magharebah Gate under heavy protection of Israeli forces and police.

Al-Khatib stressed that settlers provocatively toured the Al-Aqsa yards and listened to explanations on the alleged "Temple mount". Muslims worshippers placed in different parts of the mosque protesting against the settlers provocations and started chanting "Alah Akbar" God is the Greatest, he added.

"Settlers' provocations created a state of tension anger prevails inside the compounds of the Muslim's holy shrine, Al-Khatib explained.

Article 9 of the Jordan-Peace Treaty?

Why doesn't Israel's Foreign Ministry say something?

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What Status?

This has been communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this afternoon (Thursday, 5 February 2015), with King Abdullah II of Jordan. ..The Prime Minister noted the importance of the Jordanian ambassador's return to Israel and of the joint commitment to maintaining the status quo at the holy sites.

Joint?

Really?

Exactly how?

Does Jordan respect the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount on Moriah?  Does it wish for coexistence? Respect for religious freedom?

How does Jordan see this situation?

Here

Jordanian diplomacy made its most significant 2014 win in early November by successfully lifting the Israeli closure of Al Aqsa Mosque and repelling Israeli aggression [???] on Al Haram Al Sharif...Following incursions of Israeli security forces into Al Aqsa Mosque, Jordan withdrew its ambassador to Israel, Walid Obeidat, over violations in East Jerusalem.
 Parallel to the escalation of violence in East Jerusalem, King Abdullah led a diplomatic offensive [???] by contacting influential political centres, efforts..."King Abdullah and Jordanian diplomacy did their utmost to neutralise Israeli escalation of violence and incitement at Al Haram Al Sharif, using practical and diplomatic efforts to curb attempts of right-wing Zionist circles to seize Muslim shrines," [veteran diplomat and columnist Hasan] Abu Nimah said.

Somehow, I don't think the two leaders are communicating the same message.

And then there's this:

Netanyahu asserted Israel’s respect of the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem and the historic role of Jordan, in pursuance of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, expressing the Israeli government’s commitment not to alter the status quo at Al Haram Al Sharif and Al Aqsa Mosque. King Abdullah reiterated Jordan’s rejection of any Israeli measures that may threaten or undermine the sanctity of the holy mosque, endanger the shrine, or lead to changing the status quo of the holy site.

Is there any sanctity at the site for Jews?   Any Jordanian commitment?

What's the Jewish status?

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Jordan's King Deceives UN

So spoke King Abdullah II at the Summit on Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts - United Nations Security Council, New York, US on 24 September 2014

Jordan has taken a lead in interfaith initiatives. We are working now on introducing a Security Council resolution that will address the systematic targeting of religious communities.

Did those interfaith initiatives include Jewish religious aspects as relating to the Temple Mount?

Is the Jordanian Waqf not targetting the Jews vis-a-vis the Temple Mount? 

Does not Article 9 of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty not obligate the King and his kingdom 

"to provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance...to promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, with the aim of working towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace."

He also had this to say at the Plenary Session of the 69th United Nations General Assembly
New York, US on 24 September 2014:

Jordan strongly opposes threats to Jerusalem’s Arab Muslim and Christian identity. As Hashemite custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian Holy Sites, I will continue to oppose any violation of Al Aqsa Mosque’s sanctity.

So, King Abdullah II, what's it to be?

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Netanyahu Collapses on Temple Mount Approach Bridge

No, he's healthy.  No medical emergency.

But something else has been collapsed.  This type of news will make headlines and spread acroos the Internet and the social media instruments:

Israeli bulldozers demolished a dairy factory in Hebron and Bedouin homes east of Jerusalem early Tuesday, witnesses told Ma'an.  Locals said Israeli troops escorted two bulldozers and two excavators to the al-Rama neighborhood in northern Hebron and began demolishing the factory, which is owned by Hebron's Islamic Charitable Society.

This probably will not:

רה"מ הורה על פירוק גשר העץ החדש להר הבית בעקבות לחץ מבית המלוכה הירדני
לדברי פקיד ישראלי בכיר, הקמת הגשר הארעי נעשתה ללא אישור הדרג המדיני. "רצינו להימנע מהאשמת ישראל בהבערת המזרח התיכון בעת הזו"

Translation:

The Prime Minister ordered the dismantling of the new wooden bridge approach to the Temple Mount following pressure from the Jordanian Royal Court.  According to a high Israeli official, the construction of the temporary bridge was done without authorization by the diplomatic echelon.  "We wished to avoid Israel being accused of igniting a Middle East conflagration (or: to avoid setting the Middle East ablaze".

[Now in English]

All those ascending Mount Moriah to enter the Temple Mount precincts, tourists and Jews, via that old bridge should make sure they have adequate insurance coverage or inquire whether the Israel government can be sued if, God forbid, it does crumble.

As for Netanyahu's crumble, well, there's always the next election.

P.S.

There's this there:

“In light of the Jordanian government’s messages and the fact that the temporary bridge is of doubtful importance, and because it was built without coordination with the prime minister ... a decision was made to dismantle it right away,” the official said.
“The entire area of the Western Wall is under the prime minister’s responsibility precisely because of such sensitivities. We wanted to avoid a situation in which Israel is accused of igniting the Middle East — now of all times.”

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Bayah - Bye-Bye

In previous postings relating to the new agreement signed between the Palestinian Authority and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan regarding the patronage of the King over the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph:

D. Recalling the role of King Al Sharif Hussein Bin Ali in protecting, and taking care of the holy sites in Jerusalem and in the restoration of the holy sites since 1924; recalling the uninterrupted continuity of this role by His Majesty King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who is a descendant of Al Sharif Hussein Bin Ali; recalling that the Bay’ah (oath of allegiance) according to which Al Sharif Hussein Bin Ali held the custodianship of the Jerusalem holy sites, which custodianship was affirmed to Al Sharif Hussein Bin Ali by the people of Jerusalem and Palestine on March 11, 1924; and recalling that the Custodianship of the holy sites of Jerusalem has devolved to His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein;

and specifically this:

which custodianship was affirmed to Al Sharif Hussein Bin Ali by the people of Jerusalem and Palestine on March 11, 1924

I see now that Professor Ruth Lapidot has published an article on this agreement in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, VIII:3 (2013) and she references on this point a book(let) The Keys to Jerusalem published in 2010 in Jordan by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

The Oath:

The Jordanian interpretation:

Whether or not the Holy Sites were included in the 'disengagement decision of 1988, - which only related to Jordan and the PLO, as the Palestinian Authority did not exist then, and therefore, that is a different legal consideration, - the 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty contains this:

ARTICLE 9
PLACES OF HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

1. Each party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.
2. In this regard, in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.
3. The Parties will act together to promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, with the aim of working towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace.

The Holy Sites are very much included, as "Muslim Holy shrines", but exactly what are they and where and what about Jewish shrines, especially the Temple Mount, which shares much, but not all, of the area the Haram courtyards do, are unclear issues. Is Jordan violating the treaty?

Does not Israel also have a responsibility to assure access and worship there?

Does that Bayah hold, also given that the so-called Caliphate lasted from that March to ... October.  Is that a sufficient time to grant any sort of continuity?  

What happened in October?

As noted:

A last attempt at restoring the caliphal office and style with ecumenical recognition was made by al-Husayn ibn `Ali al-Hashimi, King of Hejaz and Sharif of Mecca, who assumed both on 11 March 1924 and held them until 3 October 1924, when he passed the kingship to his son `Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Hashimi, who did not adopt the caliphal office and style.

So, the Caliphate ended.  No more patronage of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem?  Is this Bayah a mere ploy?


Another Arab point of view on the matter is expressed so:

For Jordan, the dilemma is in maintaining a balance between its historic obligations towards Jerusalem and the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. In fact, it is more of a test of endurance.  In April this year, Jordan and Palestine signed an agreement under which the Palestinian side “reaffirmed” the status of King Abdullah as the custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Aside from the consideration of “who is stronger than who,” Jordan is definitely unwilling to terminate the Wadi Araba Peace Treaty with Israel and at the same can not remain silent on Israel’s assaults on al-Aqsa Mosque and its violations of the 1994 agreement in which the kingdom is stipulated as the official custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites. It is such a big diplomatic challenge.

Wait, has the treaty "stipulated [Jordan] as the official custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites"?

Of course not.  Just a "special role".  Perhaps as an observer, or a supervisor of engineering works, or as a payer of the Waqf employees salaries. But not sovereignty.  And not the term "custodian".

This view takes an opposing stand:

...The Treaty suggests that Arab rage and Israel Police restrictions are contrary to the spirit—if not the exact language—of an International Peace Agreement....All restrictions against Jews on the Temple Mount are contrary to the terms of a signed Peace Agreement. Discrimination of Jews at Jerusalem Holy Sites is a Treaty violation.

Article 9 also suggests that Arab riots over the Temple Mount could be illegal. Certainly, lawyers will have to decide if a signed international Treaty establishes enforceable law. They will have to determine if a violation of the terms of such an Agreement should be called ‘illegal.’But until then, Arab rage should be condemned by all.

Jordan is an interested party.  But its rights, and demands, are limited.

And if it can't even protect its own officials at the site accompanying a Fatah person, as happened recently, why should Israel respect it?

And if it does not assist Israel in assuring the freedom of religious worship (in 2009 the country joined radical Islamist Sheikh Raas Salah to denounce Israel's protection of freedom of access to the Temple Mount!) and does not promote interfaith relations, well then Jordan is out of the picture.

Does this fit with the peace treaty -
 

State Minister for Media Affairs, Mohammad al-Momani, renewed Jordan's warning that repeated Israeli attacks and unilateral measures on Muslim and Christian holy shrines as well as settlement policies threaten to undermine the peace process.

The minister, who is also government spokesman, stressed that Israel's practices against holy places are rejected and condemned and run contrary to international conventions and treaties, saying Israel should stop its ongoing violations of the holy city.

He warned that Israeli occupation authorities insistence to allow Jewish extremists to break into the Al-Aqsa Mosque is inflaming Muslim passions and could touch off religious conflict.

And that Bayah?  From 1924?

Bye - bye.

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Netanyahu Needs Watch His Back; And Abdallah vs. Women-of-the-Wall

Reported:

His Majesty King Abdullah II met on Sunday with a delegation representing the Arab and International Relations Council...[and] stressed Jordan's stance about the centrality of the Palestinian issue as well as the need to achieve peace and end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by leading towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as per the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and based on the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The King highlighted the importance of the efforts exerted by the US Secretary of State John Kerry to advance the peace process, and pointed out the positive indications from all parties to resume the peace negotiations.

Photo courtesy of Royal Court of Transjordan;  man in kippah not Jewish

But that's not all. You need to read another source.

The King also said that

...the Kingdom will continue its efforts to safeguard Islamic and Christian sites in the holy city of Jerusalem...Jordan will not spare any efforts, whether political, diplomatic or legal to protect the city, highlighting the Kingdom’s historic role in securing the holy sites, according to a Royal Court statement.

The Monarch highlighted that Jordan’s role is increasingly important in light of the agreement signed by His Majesty and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in March this year.  The agreement confirmed both Jordan’s role as custodian of the holy sites of Jerusalem and Palestinian sovereignty over all of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, the statement said. 

...the King directed the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to furnish the Dome of the Rock and Masjid Al Marwan, which is an underground praying area on the southeast side of Al Aqsa...the furnishing will be financed personally by the King...His Majesty also warned of the forced [???] migration of Muslim and Christian Jerusalemites...any attempts to Judaise Jerusalem and any of its holy sites — especially Al Aqsa Mosque — will not be accepted under any pretext.

And he also strike a blow at the Women of the Wall:-

The King also denounced the so-called Sharansky compromise, which seeks to expand and raise the area adjacent to the Buraq Courtyard in Al Aqsa Mosque complex at the expense of other Islamic parts of Al Haram Al Sharif.

He also rejected Israel’s attempts to demolish Bab Al Magharbeh, the largest entrance for non-Muslim visitors to Al Aqsa Mosque complex.

That is a fundamentalist Islamist position of classic inventivity nationalism.

No peace there.

Netanyahu's other problem: watching his back.



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The rest of the details of the Jordanian involvement are quite disturbing:

Jerusalem’s religious leaders who attended the meeting thanked King Abdullah for Jordan’s “unwavering support for the Palestinian people and the Kingdom’s efforts to secure their rights”.

Head of the Islamic Awqaf Council in Jerusalem Sheikh Abdul Atheem Salhab said Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque are a “red line” for His Majesty, who has constantly opposed any attempt to change the city’s identity.  Salhab said the attacks against Al Aqsa have increased lately, especially by settlers storming Al Aqsa under the protection of the Israeli forces, and Israel’s violations of the jurisdictions of the awqaf and the mosque’s administration, in addition to obstructing the restoration works.

He also cited the attempts by the right-wing ministers in the Israeli government to legitimise Jewish prayers inside Al Aqsa, warning of a “era-bound and location-based” division plan of the mosque, to eventually rebuild what they allege to be the Solomon’s Temple, the statement added.

Director General of Jerusalem’s Awqaf Department Sheikh Mohammad Azzam Khatib thanked His Majesty on behalf of all Jerusalemites for his constant defence of the holy sites and Jerusalemites, emphasising that King Abdullah has made his custodianship a “true Hashemite heritage”.

Khatib cited a number of Hashemite reconstruction works completed recently, including the rehabilitation of the early-warning system throughout the mosque, restoration of the decorations and mosaics inside the Dome of the Rock and the southern mosque (Qibli) project, in addition to the procurement of 200 tonnes of lead to plate the mosque and the roof of the Islamic Museum.

Khatib and a number of Jerusalemites stressed that the Hashemite Fund for the Reconstruction of Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock should be considered a financial portfolio for the funding of projects aimed at protecting the holy sites and support the Jerusalemites.

Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Adnan Husseini reiterated the importance of the agreement signed by His Majesty and Abbas in March, noting that it “reaffirmed” the status of King Abdullah as the custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem, indicating that the accord has given moral support to the people of Jerusalem and helped solve many of the outstanding problems they face.

Husseini said the agreement has boosted Jordanian-Palestinian coordination to the best effective ranks at local and international levels, according to the statement.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal expressed appreciation for King Abdullah’s efforts to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, calling for further concerted efforts to protect the identity of the holy city, which he said is the responsibility of everyone.

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Reunify Palestinian Arabs in Their Already Existing State

Received from the PRPAJ- the Party for the Implementation of a Marshall Plan for the Reunification of the Palestinian Arabs in their Existing State in Trans-Jordan

TWO STATES FOR TWO PEOPLES

ON TWO BANKS OF THE JORDAN RIVER

The Land of Israel belongs to the Jews

Those who call themselves “Palestinians” belong in Jordan

The “Jordanians” and the “Palestinians” are by their own claims, one and the same people, with the same language, religion and origins. They are therefore entitled to one state only.

This Palestinian Arab State already exists, since 1920, in Trans-Jordan.

Implement a Marshall Plan for the Reunification of the

Palestinian Arabs in their Existing State in Trans-Jordan

In 1919, in the wake of the dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations mandated the British Government to establish the Jewish National Home in Palestine, which comprised the territories on both banks of the Jordan River. Instead, in contravention of international law and basic human decency, the perfidious British despoiled the Jewish People, and literally stole from them 77% of the area of Palestine, known from Time Immemorial, as the Land of Israel. They handed over Trans-Jordan to the Hashemites, a Bedouin tribe that had been ousted from Saudi Arabia. However, by so doing, they in fact established an exclusive Arab Palestinian State, from which the Jews were banished and barred.

The Hashemite Minority Rule to this day denies the Palestinian majority their legitimate rights. It has been the root cause of the “Palestinian Calamity”. During “Black” September 1970, the Hashemites slaughtered some 20,000 Palestinians’ and expelled hundreds of thousands more. These Palestinian terrorist gangs, led by Arafat, set up a “state within a state” in Lebanon and organized the worldwide terrorist networks.

Hashemite minority rule is the real cause of the “dispossession” of the Palestinians. Not Israel. For the past forty years, the Arabs have turned this lie into the pretext and battle cry of Islamonazi imperialism and terrorism throughout the world. However, it is the USA and Europe that they plan to exploit and plunder, after destroying Israel. And they have been given a very good head start by the Chamberlains and traitors amongst us.

Don’t say you didn’t know !!!

In order to end, once and for all, the hoax of Palestinian “homelessness”, and to give back to the Palestinians their rights to self-determination, in their existing state,

it is incumbent upon the International Community to

END THE HASHEMITE MINORITY REGIME IN JORDAN and

RECOGNIZE DE JURE, THE DE FACTO

ARAB PALESTINIAN STATE in TRANS-JORDAN

* Moreover, the Arabs have 22 vast states, from which the Jews were banished and barred

* The Jews do not wish to rule over a single Arab

* The Jews are entitled to, and must have, one tiny state all of their own, without Arabs

The Jordan River is the only just, viable, logical and defensible border

between the Jewish State of Israel and the Arab Palestinian State of Jordan.

Demand the Implementation of a Marshall Plan for the Reunification of

the Palestinian Arabs in their Existing State in Trans-Jordan NOW!!!

Join the Revolution to Save the State of Israel. Be pro-active. Send this message as a petition to your elected representatives, your local organizations, the media, your synagogues, churches, and friends.
Post it on your blogs, social networks and twitters.

For more information E:mecodems@netvision.net.il

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