Free Republic

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday repeatedly blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the Islamist threat--from Iran to Pakistan. It all comes back to the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem, he said several times in an interview on NBC-TV's Meet the Press program. His host, David Gregory, did not ask the Jordanian King the obvious questions: Assuming Israel were to return the disputed West Bank territories, including East Jerusalem, which Jordan lost when it attacked Israel in the Six-Day War of June 1967, to Jordan or to a new Palestinian state, would that stop the Taliban and Al Qaeda from continuing their...

When Jesus was baptized by St. John the Baptist, it wasn’t just any body of water, or puddle, but the Jordan river. This is significant, as this spot wasn’t random, but has profound biblical symbolism. When the people of Israel were led to the “Promised Land,” they had one final hurdle to overcome: the Jordan river. The entire nation had to cross the Jordan river in order to claim the land that God had marked out for them. This action is narrated in the book of Joshua. The people then followed Joshua across the Jordan river and were saved from...

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada author Clive Douglas Campbell and Phoenix, Arizona, USA publisher Selah Publishing Group are pleased to announce the release of Messiah: 2030. Nobody knows the day and hour of the Second Coming, but the following years are on the front cover: Messiah: 2030 Cluny: 1030 Jesus: 30 David: 970 Abraham: 1970 Noah: 2970 Adam: 3970 Messiah: 2030 claims the Bible prophesies a sixth Arab-Israeli war will be over in 2003 and include the following: --the Palestinians will be deported to Jordan --Israel will go to war with Jordan, possess Jordanian land east of the Jordan River and King...

Following Jordanian King Abdullah's decision to exercise option of ending Israel's lease on two territories, which was done under peace treaty, Prime Minister Netanyahu promises to negotiate extending the agreement.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will renegotiate two annexes to its peace treaty with Jordan in an effort to maintain control over Naharayim and Tzofar, after the Hashemite Kingdom decided to reclaim the territories.Under the accord, Israel has been leasing the Island of Peace in Naharayim and the Tzofar enclave in the Arava for nearly a quarter of a century. Israeli farmers have cultivated the land for many...

Jordan River Water Was Shipped to the U.S. in 1906 and May Have Flushed an Anti-Semitic U.S. Diplomat Out of His Job PhotoThe International River Jordan Water Company was launched by Col. Clifford E. Naudaud of Covington, Kentucky, in 1906. He secured "the sole right of shipping the water of the Jordan River from the banks of the stream in Palestine to all parts of the world for baptismal and other purposes," according to a Kentucky newspaper, The Bee, published in Earlington, KY. The water was "shipped in casks bearing the seals of the Turkish Government and the American Consul,"...

A Jordan-based group is threatening to file a lawsuit against Israel in the International Criminal Court over its opening of the baptismal site Qasr al-Yahud near the Jordan River. The group, which calls itself “The Arab Union to Resist the Expulsion of Arab Christians”, is headed by the speaker of the Jordanian senate, Taher al-Masri, and includes Muslim and Christian officials from around the Arab world. The group is upset over the fact that on July 12, Israel held an official ceremony to mark the opening of Qasr al-Yahud, the site which is known as the place where Jesus was...

U.S. President Barack Obama met with members of Egypt's Islamist opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, earlier this year, according to a report in Thursday editions of the Egyptian daily newspaper Almasry Alyoum. The newspaper reported that Obama met the group's members, who reside in the U.S. and Europe, in Washington two months ago. According to the report, the members requested that news of the meeting not be publicized. They expressed to Obama their support for democracy and the war on terror.

KIBBUTZ KINNERET, Israel - Former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was baptized Saturday in the Jordan River, just weeks after quitting his band, drug habits and rock-and-roll lifestyle for religion. Welch, a founding member of the multi-platinum band, and about 20 other white-robed Christian pilgrims from a Bakersfield, Calif., church were immersed by their pastor, Ron Vietti. Welch said the ritual baptism had washed away his anger. "You know when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone before, now I feel like hugging people," he said. Vietti said Welch — who has "Jesus" tattooed across...

KIBBUTZ KINNERET, Israel - Former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was baptized Saturday in the Jordan River, just weeks after quitting his band, drug habits and rock-and-roll lifestyle for religion. Welch, a founding member of the multi-platinum band, and about 20 other white-robed Christian pilgrims from a Bakersfield, Calif., church were immersed by their pastor, Ron Vietti. Welch said the ritual baptism had washed away his anger. "You know when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone before, now I feel like hugging people," he said. Vietti said Welch — who has "Jesus" tattooed across...

Amman (AsiaNews) – About 15,000 Christians from Jordan and the Holy Land came today to the shores of the Jordan River to the spot where, according to tradition, Jesus was baptised. They travelled to the holy site, which is just a few kilometres south-west of the Jordanian capital of Amman, to celebrate the Feat of the Theophany.The high point of the event was a holy mass celebrated at 10 am by Mgr Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, with seven leaders of other Churches with a presence in the Holy Land such as the Melkite, Armenian, Maronite, Chaldean, Coptic...

Sun 12 Sep 2004 Middle East conflict killing the holy water ANNETTE YOUNG IN JERUSALEM Keeping the faith: A Christian baptism in Jordan’s fetid waters. Photograph: Ureil Sinai/ Getty Images ON A searing hot summer day, Chana Ridlin screwed up her nose in disgust as she looked out over the dull, brackish waters of the River Jordan. "It’s hard to believe now, but we used to actually drink the water and go swimming with the children without worrying," the 83-year-old Israeli kibbutznik said. Some 60 miles further downstream, at the site where Jesus was said to be baptised, a Jordanian...