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Wednesday, December 7, 2005
JORDAN PROVOKES HATRED OF ISRAEL

JORDAN PROVOKES HATRED OF ISRAEL
by Dr. Joseph Lerner,co-director IMRA 7 December 2005

The Jordan Times Dec,7 '05 editorial "The need to speak up" follows.
It concludes with charging Israel with "an ongoing, a crafty camouflaged
operation of gradual but relentless ethnic cleansing of Arab Christians".
The occasion for the charge was a meeting of King Abdullah II with the
Greek Orthodox Patriarch . The editorial cites Prince Hassan's observation
that there are more Christian Arabs from Jerusalem in Sydney,Australia
than there are in Jerusalem itself. The writer hasn't noticed Jerusalem's
Muslim Arab population has increased so rapidly that the total Arab
population has increased in Jerusalem. In Bethlehem the Christian
population fell from 84% to 12%. In Jerusalem's Old City much of the
Christian Arab area has become Muslim. Even pockets where
Christian Arabs remain a majority, many businesses have been taken
over by Muslims. So, the question is "How come the Muslim population
markedly increased while the Christian population markedly declined?"

King Abdullah appeals to "Christian leaders to ... speak with one
voice to the West about the challenges facing Christian Arab
presence in Palestine." The editorial writer charges Israel with
"ethnic cleansing" Strong Muslim population increases refutes that.
The Christian Arab departure resulted from unchecked strong Islamist
pressures making life difficult for them..

Jordanian perverse moral indignation is not rare. The late
King Hussein toured the world to block Israel's rescue of Soviet Jews
as immoral. During the first Gulf War the Royal Family harnessed its
academic world to block attacks on Iraq's oil fields as prospectively
causing a world-wide environmental catastrophe. When the economic
sanctions were in place against Saddam the Jordanian authorities
pressed the argument of infant deaths while Saddam dispersed huge
sums on the military, construction of sumptuous edifices and corruption.
All this while Jordan annually receiving from Iraq its total oil needs 50%
free
and 50% at discount payable in goods and services.

The present calumny against Israel regarding Christian Arabs is part of
a well-established hate campaign which acts to stunt peace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JORDAN TIMES 7 Dec.'05:"Editorial:The need to speak up."

QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"King Abdullah appealed to Christian leaders to speak with one voice to
the West about challenges facing Christian Arabs in Palestine,"

"an ongoing, craftily camouflaged operation of gradual but relentless
ethnic cleaning"

=============
EXCERPTS
Ramadan crescents and lanterns were put away ... Christmas trees are
already coming up.
Mutual respect and coexistence of the two faiths are such integral elements
of our national identity that we almost take them for granted.
But ... Israeli occupation is seriously threatening the very survival of
Christian communities.
Meeting with the new Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem on Monday,
...King Abdullah appealed to Christian leaders to ...speak in one voice to
the West about the challenges facing Christian Arab presence in Palestine.
[IMRA: The King could begin by assigning blame where it is due:
Islamist pressure on non-Muslims.]

Since then, Christian and Muslim Arabs have shared history and culture, both
contributing to its development and both enriching it materially and
intellectually.
... Christian Arabs have suffered the same fate as their Muslim brothers.
They were persecuted and slaughtered during the bloody conquest of the
Crusaders ... .
. . .
... Christian and Muslim Palestinians alike share the bitter pain of
dispossession, discrimination, injustice, collective punishment and state
terrorism.
Christian Arabs have often acted as an important bridge between their
homeland and the West, with which they share their faith. It is this same
role that Christian Arabs are today called upon to play with renewed vigour,
for their own sake and for the sake of their Muslim brothers.
Christian presence is dwindling dramatically in Palestine in general, and in
Jerusalem in particular, where the brutality of Israeli military occupation
is crashing Muslims and Christians alike.
...Prince Hassan, one of the most authoritative voices on inter-faith
dialogue, has been stressing on numerous occasions, it is tragic that there
are more Arab Christians from Jerusalem in Sydney, Australia, than there are
in Jerusalem itself, where Christianity was born.
Arab churches need to raise their voice and speak up.
The West will be more inclined to listen to them than to listen to Muslim
leaders, and perhaps world public opinion will start realising that what is
going on in Palestine is much more than just "religious tensions" - it is an
ongoing, a craftily camouflaged operation of gradual but relentless ethnic
cleansing.

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