Free Republic

The Jewish state’s dream of warm peace with its Arab neighbors has eluded it for more than 72 years. In September 2020, President Donald Trump helped engineer the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The very treaty signing on the White House lawn projected human warmth, and signaled a warm peace. Subsequently, Sudan and Morocco joined the normalization of relations with Israel. It is true that peace, as opposed to war, came much earlier than September 2020. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994. These peace treaties, however,...

Israel's Annexation Plan of the Jordan Valley European thinking, Abdullah’s reaction, and Israel’s rights. Thu May 28, 2020 Joseph Puder The new Israeli government is considering extending Israeli law and sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, which is within area C of the Oslo Accords. The Accords, which gave Israel both military and administrative control in the area, also contains a large bloc of Jewish-Israeli communities. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a short visit to Israel (April 22, 2020) told reporters: “As for annexation of the (Jordan Valley) West Bank, the Israelis will ultimately make those decisions.” He added,...

Erdogan was initially on the roster of speakers on the funeral — a list that includes a number of famous names, such as former president Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal. However, on Monday, Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell had said that two unnamed speakers had been added to the program, meaning that foreign guests Erdogan and King Abdullah II of Jordan would no longer be able to make an address. Gunnell told reporters that the two world leaders had been “gracious and understood.” But there were a number of suggestions that perhaps Erdogan had been removed from the list...

Waqf personnel illegally digging up the Temple Mount, March 31, 2020 Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, a.k.a. the Waqf, a Jordanian agency which controls the Temple Mount compound with the approval of the Netanyahu (Sovereignty? Moi?) government, on Tuesday boasted on its Facebook page: “Despite the forced closure of al-Aqsa Mosque / AL-HARAM AL-Sharif due to the spread of the virus, the staff, workers and guards of the al-Aqsa Mosque continue their hard work in the service of the mosque.” And the nice people of the Waqf enclosed several innocuous images of fixing up the old mosque (which was designed...

Jordanian Monarch Warns of Israeli Constructions beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque Monday February 05, 2007 00:45 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies rami at imemc dot org The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, warned Sunday of harm to the holy Islamic sites of Jerusalem, condemning all Israeli attempts to damage the Al-Aqsa mosque, especially the road leading to the Bab Almagharba gate which is close to the western wall of the mosque. The Jordanian Monarch considered such a road as a part and parcel of the Al-Aqsa mosque. King Abullah’s remarks came during a meeting with a number of Israeli Arab members of...

Israel Installs Jerusalem Excavations Webcams, Exposes Arab Incitement By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- February 15, 2007 .... In an effort to defuse Palestinian and Arab world incitement against Israel relating to excavations in Jerusalem next to Israel's Western Wall, the Israel Antiquities Authority has begun to broadcast live television coverage from the site. In a news release sent to the Israel News Agency, an Israel Antiquities Authority spokeswoman stated that work to install video cameras to enable on-line viewing of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Mugrabi Gate Reconstruction Project in the Old City of Jerusalem has been...

If you follow the news carefully over the next couple of weeks, you will be able to witness the careful and delicate work of creating a false new "reality". What began as an attempt to rebuild a damaged ramp leading to the Mughrabi Gate has escalated into an international incident. The work is proceeding near a temporary walkway that replaces a centuries-old stairway, which collapsed during storms in 2004. The Israeli authorities have explained that the renovations are needed to safeguard the ancient site and have told all the critics that there will be no structural damage to the ancient...

According to www.israelnationalnews.com the Israeli Antiquities Authority has released a report based on Egyptian sources stating that the collapse of the Temple Mount under tens of thousands of Moslem worshippers celebrating Ramadan in three weeks' time is "almost certain." The Wakf has barred Israeli engineers from entering the site though the Temple Mount is technically under Israeli jurisdiction. The Wakf derides the warnings as "Israeli propaganda" and also refuses to limit the amount of Moslem worshippers. Israel Police, however, is readying itself for the task, for fear that the Moslem world will blame Israel for the collapse. Voice of Judea...

The president of Turkey and king of Jordan joined the long line of world leaders, religious figures and superstars set to speak at Muhammad Ali's funeral Friday. Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell announced funeral details at a news conference Monday. California imam and scholar Zaid Shakir will preside over the service at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. …

The Muslim sovereign has sent a donation to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem as a contribution towards the costs. This is another of the Jordanian royal family's expressions of support to Christians. It is also a political move that aims to underline Amman's prerogatives over Jerusalem"His Majesty King Abdullah II has issued a Royal Benefaction (makruma) to provide for the restoration of Jesus' Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, at His Majesty's personal expense." The news was announced by Jordanian press agency Petra, which says that the Hashemite Court sent an official letter to the...

AMMAN, Jordan — Just after nightfall Feb. 3, a warrant arrived at the city’s main women’s prison for the execution of Sajida al-Rishawi. The instructions had come from King Abdullah II himself, then in Washington on a state visit, and were transmitted from his private plane to the royal court in Jordan’s capital. A clerk relayed the message to the Interior Ministry and then to the prisons department, where it caused a stir. State executions are complicated affairs requiring many steps, yet the king’s wishes were explicit: The woman would face the gallows before the sun rose the next day.

The United States Wednesday sharply condemned Israeli plans to build 200 new Jewish homes in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood, according to AFP, warning such moves would only "exacerbate" spiraling tensions in the city. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also denounced the alleged torching of a mosque blamed on suspected Jewish extremists calling it a "hateful and provocative" act and urging officials to investigate. "We are deeply concerned by this decision, particularly given the tense situation in Jerusalem, as well as the unequivocal and unanimous position of the United States and others in the international community opposing such construction in east Jerusalem,"...

Afted Islamic extremism with “Zionist extremism” in remarks on Monday regarding the fight against terrorism. He made the comments during a meeting with Jordan’s president and members of the Lower House’s Democratic Gathering Bloc. While saying that there was a civil war taking place between moderate and extremist camps within Islam, the Jordanian monarch added that at the same time, “there is Zionist extremism,” and that “stakeholders should acknowledge there is extremism in all camps,” The Jordan Times reported...

Jordan’s king told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow plays a pivotal role in efforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, during a meeting between the two in Moscow Wednesday. “The world should realize that without Russia, it is nearly impossible to make serious progress in the region,” King Abdullah II said, in a meeting that highlighted security and economic cooperation between the two nations, according to the Russian news agency TASS. “Of course, we are very grateful to Russia for the role it plays in the Mideast region.”

Jordan's King Abdullah II is pressing Israel not to pass a bill allowing Jews to exercise their religious rights and pray on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, a senior official of the Hashemite kingdom revealed on Tuesday. Jordanian Ambassador to "Palestine" Khalid al-Shawabka told the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency that a bill proposed by MK Miri Regev (Likud) dividing prayer time at the Mount, as is done in Hevron's Cave of Machpelah, is "unacceptable," calling the Al-Aqsa Mosque (often used as a euphemism for the entire Temple Mount) and Jerusalem "red lines." Currently the Jordanian Waqf...

Unless the US clarifies its position regarding King Abdullah and reiterates its full backing for his regime, the Muslim fundamentalists are likely to step up there efforts to create anarchy and lawlessness in the kingdom. . . . . . Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner managed to create panic [and anger] in the Royal Palace in Amman when he stated that there was "thirst for change" in Jordan and that the Jordanian people had "economic, political concerns," as well as "aspirations."

Jordan’s anti-government riots aimed ultimately at removing King Abdullah from power are so severe that the government has turned 10,000 of its soldiers into riot police. Religious Freedom Coalition President and Founder William Murray said the ruthlessness of the rioting prompted the move. Ads by Google The king has given police uniforms to 10,000 soldiers to try to maintain order,” he said. Those soldiers-turned-police are not the only ones guarding the king. Terrorism analyst and Act for America President Brigitte Gabriel said there are U.S. troops on the ground in Jordan. “We have actually positioned troops in Jordan to protect...

Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood has given King Abdullah II notice that he has until October to bow to their demand to transform the Hashemite Kingdom into a constitutional monarchy or face "Arab Spring" style street pressure for his abdication. Middle East sources report that Israeli and Saudi intelligence watchers are becoming increasingly concerned about the approaching climax of the conflict in Amman between Islamists and the throne. For Israel, an upheaval in Jordan bodes the tightening of the Islamist noose around its borders – Egypt and Libya to the south and Syria to the north, with unpredictable consequences with regard to...

AFP - Israel is "playing with fire" in expanding Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and attempting to alter the Holy City's indentity, Jordan's King Abdullah II said on Thursday. "We have warned repeatedly that Israel is playing with fire, and Jordan rejects and condemns all measures aimed at changing the identity of Jerusalem and the displacement of its Christian and Muslim Arab population," the king said in an interview with Jordanian journalists. "East Jerusalem must be the capital of an independent Palestinian state which should be established as soon as possible. "Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinian territories occupied...

Jordan’s king urges unity among religions on terrorism Feb 3, 2006 By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP)--King Abdullah II of Jordan, speaking at a Feb. 2 gathering organized by evangelicals, urged Christians, Jews and Muslims to unite around common values and to consider Islamic terrorism as an “attack upon civilization” instead of a “clash of civilizations.” Addressing the luncheon event of the yearly National Prayer Breakfast, King Abdullah told the audience of about 3,000, most of them evangelical Christians, that terrorists “do not preach the Islam of the Koran or the prophet Muhammad.... Theirs is a repugnant political ideology...