Jordan Emerges as Two-Faced Provocateur in Holy Site Violence

In the annual rite of clashes at Jerusalem’s holy sites, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has emerged as top arsonist even while donning a firefighter disguise. Secretary of State Blinken and Amman’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, speaking by phone Monday, “discussed the importance of Israelis and Palestinians working to end the cycle of violence by refraining from actions and rhetoric that further escalate tensions,” according to a State Department statement released today. Unmentioned in that pointedly even-handed statement was the tension-escalating rhetoric heard in the Jordanian parliament. In a speech there Sunday, Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh “saluted” Palestinians who “proudly stand like minarets, hurling their stones in a volley of clay at the Zionist sympathizers defiling the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation government.” Prime Minister Bennett said the Jordanian premier encourages violence that rewards “the inciters, especially Hamas, which are trying to ignite violence in Jerusalem.” In a phone conversation with Mr. Blinken this morning, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid added that Israel will not accept support for Palestinian violence, from whichever side it comes. The current Israeli government has accused the country’s previous premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, of harming relations with Amman. Top Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Benny Gantz and President Herzog, recently traveled to Amman for meetings with King Abdullah II — custodian of the two Jerusalem mosques — in hopes he would calm passions during Ramadan. Now, Jerusalem is seething over Amman’s inciting, rather than calming, fervor. Prior to yesterday’s talk with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Safadi made the rounds in Mideast capitals to unite Arabs against Israel. Separately, he summoned the Israeli deputy ambassador at Amman, Sami Abu Janeb, for a dressing down, demanding an end to Israeli police “violations” of the holy mosques.“Israel’s measures to change the status quo on the Mount are a dangerous escalation,” the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement. “Israel bears full responsibility for the consequences of the current escalation that is thwarting efforts invested to bring about calm.”Beyond the Arab world, Norway, France, the United Arab Emirates, and China this morning called a special closed-door session of the United Nations Security Council on the situation. The Council failed to agree on a united statement, but the session guarantees further meetings. The Jordanian monarch is using the current eruption at the site Arabs call the Haram al Sharif to shore up dwindling support at home, where anger over inflation, poverty, and corruption has led an increasing number of Jordanians to support the king’s half brother and top rival, Hamzah. Under house arrest, Hamzah recently abdicated his royal titles. At least two-thirds of Jordan’s population is Palestinian Arabs. The Hashemites, who hail from the Arabian peninsula, hold all power positions. Relations between ruler and ruled are always volatile. In 1951 the current king’s grandfather and namesake, King Abdullah I, was assasinated as he visisted al Aqsa by a Palestinian man upset over the Hashemite rule.No wonder Abdullah II, whose wife is of Palestinian descent, so publicly sides with Palesitnians as they confront Israelis. Yet the king is also aware that Jordan, and his own safety, depend on continued alliance with Israel. Israel is one of Jordan’s major suppliers of energy, as well as its top source of water. More importantly, Israel helped the current monarch’s father, King Hussein, when he was under assault from the Palestinian Liberation Orgnization in 1970. Although Israel had no formal relation with Amman at the time, many historians believe it saved him from losing his throne. Now King Abdullah II encourages a Hamas-led Palestinian attack on Israel that is disguised as a struggle to protect Muslim holy sites. Such attacks, always based on rumors of Jewish conspiracy against the mosques, have a long history. In the 1930s the Arab mufti at British-ruled Palestine, Haj Amin al Husseini — who later became Hitler’s top Arab ally — discovered the potent concoction based on rumors of Jewish attempts to attack al Aqsa. He used it to instigate riots and massacres against Palestine’s Jewish population. More recently, there has been annual rioting centered on the Temple Mount during Ramadan. Last year it led to an 11-day deadly war between Israel and the Gaza-based Hamas.The dynamic of this annual ritual has become predictable, and Israelis are well aware of it: Palesitnian riots, egged on by Hamas and the PLO, lead to Israeli police response at the mosques areas. Ire then spreads across the Arab and Muslim world, followed by the UN, the Europeans, and America pleading for “all sides” to exercise maximum restraint and maintain the status quo at the holy sites. Such statements usually neglect to mention that for decades Israel has diligently maintained that status quo — including a ban on Jewish prayer at the Mosque area, which 2000 years ago was the site of the first and second Judean temples. Also lost are details about the side that instigates the violence. Following that tradition, Mr. Blinken now turns to the king at Amman for help in lowering the flames, again ignoring Jordan’s role in stoking them.

Jordan Emerges as Two-Faced Provocateur in Holy Site Violence

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