Israel Matzav

You try to do something nice for someone....

Knesset speaker Ruby Rivlin was being nice and diplomatic when he sent New Year's greetings to governments around the World. But they weren't very happy about it in Jordan. They've sent the card back.

Channel 10 News reported on Sunday that the greeting, which Rivlin had sent to heads of parliaments around the world, began with the words “Greetings from Jerusalem the capital of Israel.” Rivlin then went on to describe the Jewish people’s yearning for peace, the challenges facing Israel and the fundamental importance of a democratic and Jewish Israel.

“From Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, I send you, all the members of Parliament and the people of your country, best wishes on the occasion of the New Year,” the greeting read. “We know that dreams alone will not bring peace. The challenges facing Israel in recent years are numerous and dangerous: From anti-Semitism to attempts to de-legitimize Israel, from terrorist attacks to the Iranian nuclear project...If we want to live, we must work together in cooperation, against those seeking our destruction. Israel is the state of the Jewish people...We will not compromise, not on the state’s democratic character and not on its Jewish character.”

Channel 10 reported that Taher al-Masri, the Jordanian Speaker, was not pleased with the greeting and after he received it, strongly criticized its contents and especially the assertion that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

According to the report, al-Masri claimed that Rivlin’s words were racist, misleading and have a political nature. He also he returned the greeting to Israel’s Ambassador to Jordan, Daniel Nevo.

Rivlin addressed the issue during his visit to London and said, according to the report, “The Zionist idea is not against Islam or the Arab countries. We live side by side, the relations with Jordan are important to Israel and through them we also sometimes agree to disagree. I’d be happy to straighten things out in an unmediated manner with the Speaker of the Jordanian parliament.”

Rivlin’s associates told Channel 10 that Rivlin had felt it was important to clarify to all the heads of the world’s parliaments that the political dispute with the Palestinian Authority also revolves around Jerusalem and not just about the ‘settlement blocs.’ They confirmed that the Israeli ambassador had been summoned to a meeting in the Jordanian Parliament during which the greeting was returned to him, but added that he was not reprimanded.

The Jordanians are fools. There could be nothing more destabilizing for their country than a 'Palestinian state' to their west with its capital in Jerusalem (God forbid). But as between self-preservation and Jew hatred, Jew hatred will always win out for these people.

Labels: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Jordan is Palestine, Ruby Rivlin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:42 PM