The Lower House of the Jordanian parliament voted Wednesday to expel the Israeli ambassador from the country as a protest to the Knesset’s having the audacity to debate the status of the Temple Mount.
In addition, 47 of the 150 legislators in the House signed a resolution that the peace treaty with Israel should be torn up and thrown away.
“The motion came in response to Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and to the Knesset debate of a law that seeks to impose Israel’s sovereignty over al-Aqsa,” the Al-Rai newspaper quoted MPs as saying in the motion.
“Israel’s actions clearly violate the peace treaty… it is aggression against Jordanian custodianship,” the motion said.
Certainly, if Israel violates the peace treaty, harsh action is warrant. Flagrantly inciting rage by even discussing the idea of a Jew praying on the Temple Mount, home of the Al Aqsa mosque, is hard evidence for condemning Israel from the depths of the Quran.
So let’s take a look at the peace treaty that Israel has so disgustingly violated.
The reference to the Temple Mount is implied in Article 9, entitled “Places of Historical and Religious Significance and Interfaith Relations.
The first clause states, “Each Party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.” That kind of puts a giant hole in the Jordanian legislators claim that Israel has violated the peace treaty. Of course, they could always fall back on the Arab world’s fattest lie that has made the imams look even more ridiculous – that the Jewish Holy Temples never existed, that the Bible is a Zionist work of fiction and that the Western Wall’s only religious significance is that Mohammed hitched has horse there, without even paying for the parking spot.
The next clause states, “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.”
So far, the term “permanent status” can be ascribed only to peace talks. They have become such a fixture for diplomats and journalists that they are going to be sorry if U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ever gives up. He probably won’t, because then he would not have anything to keep him busy. Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, China – they are small potatoes for him. He can wrap up those problems in a day or two.
Clause number 3 states, “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.”
Lovely.
The Jordanian parliament thinks that the Knesset debate, initiated by Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin, should not be about freedom of religious worship. It thinks that “working towards…peace” means expelling the Israeli ambassador. One third of them think peace means breaking the peace treaty, and all of this because the Knesset talked about Jews praying on the Temple Mount.
The truth is that Jews prayed on the Temple Mount way back when, not only 2,000 years ago but also 45 years ago. No one said “boo” because the Arabs and Jews were at peace. The Arabs had been freed from the rule of Jordan, an occupation that never was authorized by the United Nations. They were neglected as second-class citizens, and Arab villages in Judea and Samaria were left to eat the crumbs that Amman left behind.
After the Six-Day War, The Arabs – pardon the expression – never had it so good. Israel opened up all holy sites to all religions, Israelis traveled and shopped freely in Judea and Samaria, and tourism flourished.