Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem? Not so fast...

To those of us concerned about the situation in the Middle East, there is new cause for concern and prayer. Perhaps even letters to appropriate authorities so cool heads prevail.

My wife and I had an enjoyable first visit to the small nation of Jordan at the end of April this year. At the time, although we were informed of stresses the country was experiencing, it also appeared that it was somewhat of an oasis of peace in the area, or as our guide referred to it, ‘the hole in the doughnut.’ You can read more of our experiences in this regard at http://reflect-lulu-isle.blogspot.ca/2017/05/2017-5-17-report-on-jordan.html .

We learned that Jordan seemed to be at peace with its western neighbor, Israel. In fact, we were told that there was a good deal of business going on between the two nations, and that Jewish businessmen even lived in Jordan and carried on their business there. All of this followed Jordan’s signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Therefore, it was troubling to read in the news recently about a recurrence of friction between the two nations. Just the same, this report suggests Israel was in some ways blackmailing Jordan into accepting their demands as these incidents unfolded:

“Jordan relies on Israel for much of its economic stability. With an annual $39 billion GDP, compared with Israel’s $320 billion for roughly the same population size, Jordan could go under without Israeli support.

Under the 1994 peace treaty, Israel provides Jordan, a desert country, 13 billion gallons per year of fresh water from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). More than 200,000 Israelis vacation in Jordan, which is starved for foreign currency. Jordan is expected to receive natural gas at a bargain-basement cost from Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan offshore fields. In a country with a soaring unemployment—at least 30 percent, much higher among youths—Israeli businesses have established industry in Jordan, taking advantage of the lower pay across the river.” https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/92370/jordans-king-vows-stop-judaisation-temple-mount/#boZkqZjyMiIlZKpY.99

The immediate incitement for the current situation started with Israel’s closure – again – of the Temple Mount, in the old city of Jerusalem, to Muslims wanting to come to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for prayers. This followed the murder of two Israeli Druze police officers in an attack on Israeli guards at the Temple Mount by 3 Palestinian youths. There is no excuse for such attacks but we do have to keep in mind that these things happen when the temperature in the pot – Israeli occupied Palestine – whose lid keeps held shut by Israel, which is their short-sighted way of trying to keep themselves secure – gets too hot and some ‘steam’ escapes. Then Israel throws tear gas and shoots rubber bullets back into the pot, which does not help in the long run. But I carry the figure of speech too far.  

I leave it to a Christian Palestinian brother we met last year, who is an academic in Bethlehem, to describe what happened next:

“Jordanians are very upset.  An Israeli security official at a private apartment building shoots the owner of the
building and a 17-year-old worker installing furniture and runs off to a hero's welcome in Tel Aviv [This is the incident referred to, quoting from Israeli paper, Haaretz:

The guard at the Israeli Embassy in Amman was stabbed on Sunday by a Jordanian carpenter who was installing furniture in his apartment near the embassy compound. The Israeli security officer, who was lightly wounded in the incident, shot and killed the attacker. His landlord, who was also present during the incident, was also wounded during the incident and later died of his wounds. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.803076?utm_content=%2Fisrael-news%2F1.803076&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_campaign=shivuk-haaretz-news ].

The two victims? One a Muslim, one a Christian. One of Palestinian origin (refugee family) and the other [of] Jordanian lineage. One young, one old. One highly educated (practicing doctor) and one who has not finished school. One friendly to Israel and rents to their officials[;] the other more nationalist. Israeli murderers [have] showed all [of the] people in the world repeatedly that they do not distinguish "goyim" [Gentiles] from one another.

Hopefully some day that killer [will] be brought back to Jordan to face justice.

Yet, our actions do make a difference. Israeli forces finally complied with Internationally law temporarily by removing the illegal electronic gates and corrals leading to [the] Al-Aqsa compound. Western media ignored the massive popular resistance (non-violent) that made the difference. They also ignored the cost of our success: 4 murdered Palestinians and hundreds injured (and no support from most governments). 

The last two sentences of our friend's newsletter about the situation reflect the chain of events that followed the original action on the Temple Mount. There were violent Palestinian protests/riots against Israel's response to the incident. These are always disappointing and we wish they would not happen, as they only make things worse, but remember the boiling pot metaphor. Some of the injuries our friend mentions occurred as a result of Israel's action to put down that violence. Some of it occurs when Israel, as is usually the practice, uses the opportunity to use its muscle against the occupied Palestinians in other parts of the so-called West Bank, as part of their ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation of Palestinians, which often includes many innocent individuals, for any alleged (by Israel) negative action on the part of any Palestinian.

However, getting back to my original concern, the increased tension between Jordan and Israel as a result of all of this, which I don’t think has received much attention in most Western media. There were protests in Jordan against Israel's action https://worldisraelnews.com/jordanians-enraged-by-israels-closure-of-temple-mount-in-response-to-terror/ . Some of this was because Jordan’s Muslim sector has a role to play in the guarding of the Temple Mount mosque. Some is because there are a large number of expatriate Palestinians in Jordan, and some of them may simply have been reacting as were their compatriots in Israel and Palestine. The third reason would be simply that Jordan is predominantly Muslim, and there would be a more extremist element that would react this way.

Then the lawmakers and governing bodies, the leaders of both Israel and Jordan started the usual wars of words, threatened reprisals and shifting of embassy personnel that nations engage in when these things happen https://worldisraelnews.com/jordan-lawmakers-praise-jerusalem-attack-criticize-israel/ There were skirmishes near the Israeli embassy in Jordan with an Israeli security guard being killed. One Israeli media source reported:

 [ https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/92051/stabbing-israeli-embassy-jordan-terrorist-shot/] “The unusual incident began when a team of carpenters came to install furniture in one of the apartments where the Israeli security guards live, near the Amman embassy compound. One of the workers crept behind the officer and began to stab him with a screwdriver - at which point the officer jumped back, cocked his weapon and fired. He was lightly wounded in the jump.

The guard arrived at the embassy immediately following the incident. A Foreign Ministry official noted that he is an accredited diplomat, immune from interrogation and arrest under the Vienna Convention.” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.803117?utm_content=%2Fisrael-news%2F1.803117&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_campaign=shivuk-haaretz-news

As a time of this writing, the situation seems to be resolving, at least for now. Israel has removed the metal detectors which where an added aggravation for the Muslims wanting to worship at the Temple Mount. All of this just underscores again though, how volatile this region continues to be.

Many Christians repeat the phrase,”Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” That is a limited and narrow-minded view of what is needed. We need, as Christians, to pray for the peace of everyone in the region, not just Jerusalem. We especially need to remember our Christian brothers and sisters in all of these nations. When it comes to Palestine, Israel makes little distinction as to whether those they trouble are Christian or Muslim. Yet, too many Christians in the west blindly support Israel, which, in effect, means they are leaving their Christian brothers and sisters in the region vulnerable. This is not acceptable. God’s love does not distinguish between Jews, Christian, Muslim or other. If we follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors, even our enemies, this includes everyone.