Thursday, September 22, 2005

Delusion and Denial

The problem with mid-east politics is that it is fraught with delusions and denials from the so-called political classes. Case in point, the Jerusalem Post duly reports on the efforts of King Abdullah 11 to bridge the divide by speaking to US Jewish group during his recent tour of the US on September 20, 2005.
King Abdullah II of Jordan is set to speak with a group of American rabbis today, as part of his ongoing effort to build bridges between Muslims, Jews and Christians. In the event, slated to take place in the capital, Abdullah is expected to lay out his vision of inter-religious respect and of promoting a tolerant Islam, as opposed to the interpretation used by terror groups. The Jordanian monarch also believes that Islam can lead the Arab world towards modernization, and is advocating stronger relations with the West.
(…)
During his visit to the US, Abdullah and his wife Queen Rania met with many groups of young Jews, Christians and Muslims, and called for moderation and for keeping an open dialogue between faiths.

Sounds promising till one learns what's going on back home in the Kingdom and read the statements issued by the Kingdom’s Royal Commission on Jerusalem Affairs(taken from a Jerusalem Wire Service article) on September 21, 2005:
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has responded with outrage and farcical counterclaims to Jewish assertions of a historic and religious right to the city of Jerusalem.

Last week, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the United Nations General Assembly Jerusalem is the “eternal undivided” capital of the nation of Israel, and a city the Jews have always held most dear.

On Monday Jordan's Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs blasted both Sharon and the UN over what it called “a statement full of lies and falsehoods.”“How could this world organization allow a war criminal to review lies based on false claims and biblical legends in Palestine,” the committee wondered in an official statement released to the press.

According to the experts who chair the committee, “historic, demographic and religious facts” as well as “archaeological discoveries” prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that “the land of Palestine and Jerusalem have been inhabited by Arab Canaanites for over 5,000 years.”


So much for interfaith dialogue with delusionals.

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