There Can be Honour, Respect Between Faiths

 "I am inspired by those Israelis, both young and old, who are prepared to risk opprobrium when they voice their desire to live with Palestinians on terms of equal sovereignty and shared aspirations, as I am by those Palestinians and Arabs who defy accusations of treachery when they express the belief that peace is possible." 
Prince Hassan of Jordan

Courtesy of John Rifkin / Board of Deputies of British Jews...Prince Hassan of Jordan, centre, with Board of Deputies of British Jews president Vivian Wineman, left, and treasurer Laurence Brass, Right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Abdullah of Jordan was originally scheduled to attend a British Jewish charity event, a November 21 fund raiser for the Board of Deputies of British Jews.  For quite feasible reasons, King Abdullah cancelled his attendance.  The reason is obvious enough; he is facing tensions from challengers to his rule of Jordan.  The Hashemite Kingdom is comprised of 70% Palestinians, and although King Abdullah II is married to a Palestinian, Queen Rania cannot shield her husband from criticism.

Jordanian Palestinians would prefer the cancellation of Jordan's peace agreement with Israel.  Young Jordanians called for the removal of King Abdullah, spurred on by public outrage over the rise of the price of fuel.  He has partially redeemed himself by visiting the West Bank on December 6, mollifying the anger of Palestinians by his gesture of solidarity with their cause.  His country of seven and a half million would look askance at his attendance at this juncture as guest speaker for a Jewish event.

In his stead, however, his uncle Prince Hassan of Jordan appeared.  He was photographed at the event with two key members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.  Anti-Israel sentiment among his population is rife; although Israelis visit Jordan as tourists they are forewarned not to be conspicuous to avoid being noticed by the indigenous population whose displeasure at their appearance within their country can result in violence. 

Anti-Israeli activists in Jordan call on their royal family to remain distant from Israel, and they are now calling upon the royal family to distance themselves from Prince Hassan, since it has become common knowledge that his presence in London had a distinct purpose, one that represents anathema to most Palestinian Jordanians. 

"We condemn Prince Hassan's participation as it represents free service to the Zionist enemy and harms national causes as well as the prince himself and the royal family" was the message sent out by the National Anti-Normalization Committee of Jordan, formed to lobby against normal relations with Israel.  "This is a provocation of the feelings of all Jordanians."

But Prince Hassan has spoken out often of the need for interfaith dialogue, and has done so addressing Jewish audiences.  "I do not need to tell the people of Israel of nightmares, but I do need to remind [them] that they are not alone.  There is a people living alongside Israel who have also experienced loss of lives, of families, homes and whole communities, and who feel the same fear, frustration and despair."

He assisted his brother, King Hussein, father of King Abdullah, as a key architect of the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty.  King Hussein visited Israel on several occasions before his death in 1999.  His relations with Israel were outstanding, and his death a blow not only to his country but to ongoing good relations with the Jewish state.  In 1997 King Hussein did something quite remarkable, in praying with the families of seven Israeli schoolgirls gunned down by a Jordanian soldier.

Within Jordan opposition parties draw huge support from Jordanians who wish to have the peace treaty abrogated.  The secretary general of the Islamic Action Front was blunt in his condemnation: "I urge all Jordanians - the honourable ones - to end dealing with this enemy.  The Israelis have no interest in talking.  They only understand the language of the sword.  We must scrap the peace treaty because Israel has no interest in making peace."

This charge representing the ultimate irony with Palestinian Gazans and increasingly West Bank Palestinians joyfully celebrating the recent violence and more obvious bellicosity of Hamas, sworn to destroy the State of Israel.  A situation that Prince Hassan is well aware of; his allusion to those Palestinians and Arabs who defy accusations of treachery, well demonstrated by the accusations levelled against his own efforts at conciliation and equality.