May 14, 2007, - 11:58 am
Our “Moderate” “Ally” Jordan, The Greek Orthodox Church & Anti-Semitic “Fair Housing”
By
All adjectives are relative. And in the case of the Muslim Mid-East, when we call any nation “moderate” or an “ally,” it’s extremely relative.
Take Jordan. As , in Pew Global Research surveys, 100% of Jordanians have described themselves as anti-Semitic. 80% support Bin Laden, 88% support homicide bombings, 41% are self-described anti-Christian. 79% hate America.
So that’s the threshold of ally-dom, these days: Only 21% of its citizens don’t hate America.
Now, here’s a new measure of Jordan’s “moderation”: On Saturday, Jordan cut its ties with and withdrew its recognition of Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Church Patriarch Theophilos III (also spelled Theofilos) because Theophilos failed to annul a sale of church property (in Jerusalem!) to Israel.
Yes, while fair housing is law here in the West, the opposite is a fact of life with our “moderate” “allies”. Anti-Semitic land restrictions still exist in only two places, the Arab and Muslim worlds and the covenants of all Kennedy family property.
But Jordan won’t even own up to their anti-Semitism . . . at least not in their English media. Petra–the official government-run Jordan News Agency–reports:
Jordan withdraws recognition of Jerusalem Orthodox Church
Amman, May 12 (Petra) The Jordanian government on Saturday decided to withdraw its recognition of Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Kerios Theophilos III.
The decision was taken, during a cabinet session, because the Patriarch failed to fulfill the obligations he pledged to the government during his tenure, according to a statement issued by the Council of Ministers.
Petra/Injadat
The mysterious “obligations” was a singular obligation to invalidate a land sale to the “evil Zionist” JOOOOOOOOS.
“7 Days” of the United Arab Emirates reports the real story:
Theophilos replaced Irineos I who was sacked over a controversial land sale, a multi-million dollar transaction in which Jewish businessmen acquired Church land on Palestinian land.
More from the Kuwait Times:
AMMAN – Jordan announced yesterday that it has withdrawn its recognition of Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theofilos III, saying he failed to act on a pledge to annul an unsanctioned church property sale to Israel. Jordanian recognition of the patriarch is necessary under ancient church law, which dictates that any patriarch must have the blessing of the Holy Land’s ruling powers-Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
While Jordan renounced its claims to east Jerusalem in 1988, it retains custody of holy shrines in the city. . . . A [Jordianian] government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, told The Associated Press that the Jordanian move was sparked by the patriarch’s “failure to act on the controversial east Jerusalem land deal with Israel concluded by his predecessor.” He declined to elaborate. Theofilos’ predecessor, Irineos I, was ousted in May 2005 over claims of being involved in the unsanctioned sale of church property in Jerusalem, including two hotels, to an Israeli company.
Irineos has denied the claims against him, saying a former aide signed the leases without his knowledge. The sales would bolster the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, a traditionally Arab quarter that Palestinians hope to make their capital. The Greek Orthodox church abides by a 1958 Jordanian law banning the sale of any church land or property in Jerusalem, which Jordan ruled along with the West Bank until Israel seized the territories during the 1967 Middle East War. While Israel has annexed east Jerusalem, Jordan was given responsibility for overseeing the affairs of Christian and Islamic holy shrines in the hotly contested city under Amman’s 1994 peace treaty with the Jewish state.
Theofilos, the metropolitan of Tabor in Galilee, was elected in August 2005 by the church’s Holy Synod after serving previously as a Greek Orthodox Church envoy in Qatar. He reportedly has close ties to the Orthodox leadership in the United States. Theofilos has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court for state recognition. Church rules require approval from all three governments where his flock lives.
In recent times, the Greek Orthodox Church has been all too supportive of Arafat, HAMAS, and Palestinian terrorism. One of its top officials was once caught transporting bombs for Palestinian terrorists in his church vehicle. And, as I’ve written, , a former Jerusalem Greek Orthodox Church’s Patriarchate spokesman, openly supports HAMAS and praises “martyrdom.”
Hopefully, Theophilos III is a refreshing change. But with this latest move by Jordan, don’t bet on it. I’m sure Theophilos–a friend of George Tenet–and the Church will “come around” to Jordan’s way of seeing things.
So where is King Abdullah, the Hashemite minority dictator of Jordan, on all of this? Why he’s 100% behind his yes-man Parliament in derecognition of the Church until they nullify the sale of land to Jews.
Yup, the very epitome of “moderation” and “friendship” in the Mid-East.
Tags: Abdullah, aide, America, Amman, ancient church law, Arafat, bin Laden, Council of Ministers, Debbie Schlussel All, envoy, George Tenet, government official, Greek Orthodox Church, Hamas, Israel, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Orthodox Church Amman, Jordan, Jordan News Agency, Jordanian government, King, Kuwait Times, Palestinian Authority, Patriarchate spokesman, Qatar, recognition, Supreme Court, the Kuwait Times, The Associated Press, United Arab Emirates, United States, USD, West Bank
Don’t worry, Jordan, you still have the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem on your side. In April he called Israel “evil” and called the Palestinian cities in the West Bank “prisons.”
Then again, it took Rome until the early 90s to even recognize Israel’s right to exist (after setting up a PLO office at the Vatican in the early 70s).
bleechers on May 14, 2007 at 2:23 pm