We all know that the peace between Israel and Egypt is cold at best. But even the peace between Israel and Jordan, which is often held up as a model for Israeli-Arab coexistence, is a worthless scrap of paper whose success is entirely dependent the temperament of the king in Amman.
The fact that the Jordanian people as a whole still don’t like Israel was demonstrated at a press conference following a music festival in the northern Jordan town of Jerash this past weekend.
Naturally, since Israel and Jordan are at peace, a reporter for Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, felt it was perfectly acceptable for her to cross the border and cover the event. She was wrong.
According to reports published Sunday, as soon as the Israeli identified herself in the course of asking a question, the Arab journalists around her rose and began advancing in a menacing manner. The Israeli quickly fled the room fearing for her life.
This happened in Jordan, the one Arab nation that most everyone assumes has a warm peace with Israel. But that is just a guise to bolster the idea that peace can be achieved between Israel and the Arab world short of the Jewish state ceasing to exist.
The fact is that the Jordanian populace as a whole remains bitterly hostile toward Israel. No Jordanian tour groups ever visit Israel. Jordanians don’t cross the border to attend music festivals in Israel. The efforts to normalize ties and live in peaceful coexistence are all coming from one side.
The only reason the peace has held and been a relative success is because of King Abdullah, who has more or less followed in the footsteps of his father and fulfilled at least the security-related aspects of the agreement.
The long-term success of the peace agreement, however, is entirely dependent on the Hashemite monarchy remaining in power. If Abdullah or one of his predecessors are ever overthrown and the Palestinian majority in Jordan takes over, the country will revert to overt hostility toward Israel.
There is peace, but it is between Israel and the Hashemite monarchy, not between Israel and the nation of Jordan.
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2 comments so far ↓
1 Lucas Silva // Aug 19, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I didnt knew that, but its nothing new! Does the king has influence on what is being preached in the Jordan mosquees? Guess not, hate spreeching clerics have more power over the people than a single king.
2 Marsha Carol Watson // Aug 20, 2007 at 10:00 am
This is just one more example of the fact that THE ONLY ONE ISRAEL CAN DEPEND ON IS GOD HIMSELF. If the Jewish People can ever realize that the only power they have over all of their enemies is through their personal relationships with the Most High God…we will begin to see God fight their battles in a more visible way.
I am remembering the Scripture: “Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you.”
What a glorious promise!!!
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