To Honor Jesus Christ, Glorify God, Encourage Believers, & Warn All
Est  11-08-2004 Changed 04-24-2010 

Please read the first page of this topic before reading this page.

This information is offered with the hope that YOU can come to KNOW the Lord personally.

LOCAL COMMENT: Jordan's message of peace

March 25, 2005

BY ANDREW S. DOCTOROFF ( president of the metropolitan Detroit chapter of the American Jewish Committee, a Jewish advocacy organization)

The conventional wisdom that the Middle East is devoid of courageous statesmen to aggressively challenge Islamic extremists was exposed as myth at the Bassman Palace, on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan.

The Amman Message proclaims: "On religious grounds, on moral grounds, we denounce the contemporary concept of terrorism which is associated with wrongful practices wherever they come from. ... Extremism ... is an evil alien to Islamic values of moderation and tolerance."

Those unvarnished sentiments, discussed in a mahogany-paneled room adorned with arabesques and towering portraits of princes and kings, were jarring to our group. They upended expectations that public rhetoric in this part of the world would be cautiously tailored to appease the "Arab street."

Evoking Judeo-Christian tenets, the Amman Message emerged from the carnage of the September 2004 seizure by Muslim attackers of a school near the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

King Abdullah recently sponsored an international conference at which he promulgated the Amman Declaration, which advocates free elections, protection for journalists and the institution of checks and balances.

These actions evince true leadership, because they run counter to the impulses of many Jordanians who, like their counterparts across the Arab world, continue to hold deep-seated animosity for Israel.

Though Jordan endeavors to be a model Arab state, it feels insufficiently supported by Washington. U.S. aid to Jordan has increased dramatically in recent years -- but so have the threats facing the kingdom's security. Jordan has requested additional assistance that, if granted, would bolster the country's economy and the perceived legitimacy of progressives in its government.

The Bush administration has not acted on Jordan's plea to accelerate the reduction of tariffs addressed in a free trade agreement between Jordan and the United States. Jordan would also like to amend accords creating Qualified Industrial Zones, areas in which manufacturers may export goods duty-free, which have been a boon to the Jordanian economy and created strong economic links with Israel.

One senior Israeli official described foreign aid to Jordan as insufficient, particularly given that King Abdullah is "sticking his neck out" for the United States.

Jordan is not a democracy. King Abdullah has exercised his constitutional authority to dissolve the National Assembly's popularly elected Chamber of Deputies. Images of King Abdullah and his late father, King Hussein, are ubiquitous in the country, fostering a cult of personality.

Published reports indicate that political dissenters who oppose Jordan's pro-U.S. policies are sometimes gagged or subject to criminal prosecution.

Yet, because of King Abdullah's visionary leadership and his commitment to forging lasting peace in the Middle East, one travels Jordan with palpable optimism, a confidence that there has emerged a caliph who presages a rise of rationalism, effecting meaningful change.

Sadly, this hopefulness is tempered by not only the region's inherent instability, but also a concern that we are not suitably protecting King Abdullah from the reactionary wrath that surely festers among his subjects.

Jordan`s Not-So Far-fetched Scenario for West Bank

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

April 16, 2005, 11:33 AM (GMT+02:00)

King Abdullah II is deeply preoccupied in restructuring governance in his realm according to a self-designed pattern of democracy. This revolutionary process is going forward quietly step by step. This month, he appointed a new government shorn of policy-making authority in the fields of foreign affairs, defense and home security, prerogatives that will pass to the royal court. Furthermore, he is acting to decentralize parliament in Amman.

But along with these radical reforms, the Jordanian king’s peripheral sight is fixed on his western neighbor. He has not missed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s descent deeper day by day into the morass of disorder and revolt.

...

But according to our Amman sources, Abdullah thinks the Palestinian Authority under Abu Mazen is sinking rapidly and may be beyond saving. What interests him most is the July 17 Palestinian election and its potential impact on stability in his kingdom given his large Palestinian population

Abdullah is therefore turning over the possibility of Jordan moving in to fill the power vacuum that would be formed on the West Bank by Abu Mazen’s downfall.

Last week, the Jordanian ruler set up a new body called the Commission for Determining Jordan’s National Agenda. Its eight sub-committees were entrusted with drafting new laws for the redistribution of legislative authority among provincial parliaments still to be created.

DEBKAfile’s Amman sources reveal that the king has decided on three provincial parliaments for Irbid in the north, Salt in the center and Kerak in the south. Each will elect a government to administer the province.

As for the West Bank, the Jordanian king would not be surprised if a breakdown of the Abbas government in Ramallah produced an invitation from Washington, pro-Jordanian elements among the Palestinians - and even possibly Israel, for him to step in and sort out the mayhem in the West Bank.

Such an invitation might lead to consideration of a plan to make the territory the Jordanian kingdom’s fourth wilaya.
...

Abdullah’s aides are seeking to muster a majority of royalist supporters for the three Jordanian provincial governments. The headhunt is led by Jordan’s elder statesman Zeid al-Rifai, many times prime minister in Amman, his son, Samir Rifai, one of the king’s closest advisers, and the speaker of parliament, Abd al Hadi Majali.

DEBKAfile’s Washington sources have no doubt that the king discussed his West Bank concept with Bush during their White House talks in March. Neither gave the game away in their public appearances later. The president only praised “His Majesty’s” steps for democracy in general terms, making no commitments. He may have set Abdullah’s suggestion aside as a possible Plan B for consideration if the Palestinian Authority crisis becomes terminal. Our American sources are certain Sharon was clued in on the Jordanian option when he visited the presidential ranch in Texas last week.

Whatever becomes of this as yet unformed notion, a Jordanian-Palestinian province on the West Bank might open up some fresh thinking on ways of keeping some Jewish settlement blocs in situ – if not under full Israeli sovereignty then at least under Israeli administration – under give-and-take accords.

Jordan`s Not-So Far-fetched Scenario for West Bank

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

April 16, 2005, 11:33 AM (GMT+02:00)

King Abdullah II is deeply preoccupied in restructuring governance in his realm according to a self-designed pattern of democracy. This revolutionary process is going forward quietly step by step. This month, he appointed a new government shorn of policy-making authority in the fields of foreign affairs, defense and home security, prerogatives that will pass to the royal court. Furthermore, he is acting to decentralize parliament in Amman.

But along with these radical reforms, the Jordanian king’s peripheral sight is fixed on his western neighbor. He has not missed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s descent deeper day by day into the morass of disorder and revolt.

...

But according to our Amman sources, Abdullah thinks the Palestinian Authority under Abu Mazen is sinking rapidly and may be beyond saving. What interests him most is the July 17 Palestinian election and its potential impact on stability in his kingdom given his large Palestinian population

Abdullah is therefore turning over the possibility of Jordan moving in to fill the power vacuum that would be formed on the West Bank by Abu Mazen’s downfall.

Last week, the Jordanian ruler set up a new body called the Commission for Determining Jordan’s National Agenda. Its eight sub-committees were entrusted with drafting new laws for the redistribution of legislative authority among provincial parliaments still to be created.

DEBKAfile’s Amman sources reveal that the king has decided on three provincial parliaments for Irbid in the north, Salt in the center and Kerak in the south. Each will elect a government to administer the province.

As for the West Bank, the Jordanian king would not be surprised if a breakdown of the Abbas government in Ramallah produced an invitation from Washington, pro-Jordanian elements among the Palestinians - and even possibly Israel, for him to step in and sort out the mayhem in the West Bank.

Such an invitation might lead to consideration of a plan to make the territory the Jordanian kingdom’s fourth wilaya.
...

Abdullah’s aides are seeking to muster a majority of royalist supporters for the three Jordanian provincial governments. The headhunt is led by Jordan’s elder statesman Zeid al-Rifai, many times prime minister in Amman, his son, Samir Rifai, one of the king’s closest advisers, and the speaker of parliament, Abd al Hadi Majali.

DEBKAfile’s Washington sources have no doubt that the king discussed his West Bank concept with Bush during their White House talks in March. Neither gave the game away in their public appearances later. The president only praised “His Majesty’s” steps for democracy in general terms, making no commitments. He may have set Abdullah’s suggestion aside as a possible Plan B for consideration if the Palestinian Authority crisis becomes terminal. Our American sources are certain Sharon was clued in on the Jordanian option when he visited the presidential ranch in Texas last week.

Whatever becomes of this as yet unformed notion, a Jordanian-Palestinian province on the West Bank might open up some fresh thinking on ways of keeping some Jewish settlement blocs in situ – if not under full Israeli sovereignty then at least under Israeli administration – under give-and-take accords.

Is Jordan still the darling of U.S. President George W. Bush's campaign to reform, democratize and build free markets across the Middle East? From all outward appearances, the meeting between King Abdullah II and Bush last month in Washington was as warm as usual. But once the cameras were turned off, senior American officials made clear their discomfort with the stalled or, as one Jordanian official told me, "complacent" pace of reform in the kingdom.

 Jordan's day of reckoning was long overdue. Questionably justifiable arrests, restrictions on the opposition-dominated trade unions, a less-than-free press, and heavy-handed secret police interference in daily life could no longer be excused. The bargain that Amman, like Cairo or even Damascus, hoped to maintain was regional good deeds in exchange for Washington's turning a blind eye to poor domestic performance. After all, no one really expected Bush to live up to his democracy-touting rhetoric, particularly when stability and security were at risk.

That proved wrong: Bush defied all expectations and walked the democratic walk. Worse still, the American threshold for defining Arab leaders as "reform-minded" is moving lower, like a limbo stick. Within days of the Abdullah-Bush meeting, public pressure mounted on the king for him to clear the stick.

On March 28, speaking at the neoconservative Hudson Institute, the former Pentagon official Richard Perle, a Don Corleone among the Bush administration's unofficial political advisors, set off minor shockwaves by mentioning Jordan in the same breath as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, all described as "closed political systems ... [breeding] discontented young men who are easily enticed to sacrifice their own lives in order to kill us."

Jordan has long been supportive of the idea of a Jewish state in the former Palestine. Indeed, backing that idea cost the first King Abdullah his life; a Palestinian extremist afraid that the old king would make a separate peace with Israel shot him while he was visiting the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on July 20, 1951.

Abdullah’s grandson, Hussein Ibn Talal, became King Hussein two years later and guided his nation through the treacherous shoals of Middle East intrigue until his death in 1999. He, too, was a consistent force encouraging other Arab states both to modernize and to accept the reality of Israel’s permanence.

Hussein’s eldest son, now King Abdullah II, has been something of a question mark. Following his education, much of it in England and America, he served with distinction in the Jordanian military. He speaks, in fluent English, of his support for the policies of his father and great-grandfather (although not for the first Abdullah’s idea of a bringing Jordan and Iraq into a greater Syria ruled by the Hashemite throne).

Thanks to the forward-looking regimes, the country is the most educated of Arab states, with a 91 percent literacy rate among its 5.5 million citizens. That skilled workforce has been attracting significant investment from Western nations as well as traditional allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria.

There are signs that U.S. policy is coming around to seeing Jordan’s potential. King Abdullah has been a frequent White House guest in the post 9-11 period, and President George W. Bush has gone out of his way to praise the 43-year-old ruler. And the praise has been backed up with substantial dollars, more than $1 billion a year in economic aid and more than $500 million in military support.

This is not to say that Jordan is perfect. It has allowed terrorists to cross into Iraq and attack U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians. Abdullah turned a blind eye last month when the Jordanian family of Raed Banna celebrated their relative’s killing himself and 116 Iraqis in the Shiite town of Hilla, a “martyrdom” party that Iraqis protested vigorously by destroying the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad.

In a powerful essay two weeks ago in the Washington Post, veteran foreign affairs writer Jim Hoagland noted that the king still talks approvingly of the Baathist Party, the Sunni Muslim base for Saddam Hussein, and that he tells Arab audiences different things about wanting Syria out of Lebanon than he does his American listeners.

But last week, Abdullah sacked his government for failing to move fast enough toward a modernization for democracy and named a 69-year-old biologist with a reputation for both honesty and political effectiveness to craft a more forward-looking set of policies that might eventually replace the constitutional monarchy with a liberal democracy. That is not a process that could happen in, say, Syria where the president, Bashar al-Assad, was educated in the West, like Abdullah, but unlike the king, Assad has proved to be a weak-minded puppet of an old-line rejectionist Arab apparatchik.

Arabs always say that the West cannot impose its ways on them; that its progress must be built on a regional model. They would do well to look at what is happening in Amman.

GAZA CITY, April 23 (UPI) -- One thousand Palestinian troops from Jordan's Badder battalion will deploy in the northern West Bank in three weeks, security sources said Saturday.

The Badder battalion was formed in the 1960s from the Palestine Liberation Army. Dozens of the battalion's officers moved to the West Bank after the Oslo Accords were implemented in 1994.

Speaking to UPI on condition of anonymity, the security sources said that an agreement is about to be reached with both Israel and Jordan to coordinate the arrival of the 1,000 officers to the northern West Bank.

The aim of bringing the Badder officers to the northern West Bank is to restore law and order after the intended Israeli pullout and evacuation of four Jewish settlements from the area.

The deal is to bring the officers to the West Bank with their military uniform and light arms, said the sources, adding that "their families would follow them later."

"The New World War: Clash of Civilizations or Muslim Civil War?" will be presented by Introvigne May 10 at a conference organized jointly by the Italian think tank (CESNUR, according to its Italian initials), and the Catholic Alliance Movement.

The topic of the conference will be: "Catholics, Islam, and Terrorism in the New Pontificate."

In a message sent to ZENIT, CESNUR explains that the opposition to the appointment of the new Pontiff in the Muslim world comes from those who promote a nationalist, secular vision of Islam, as well as from fundamentalists, meaning those who take recourse to violence as a means to express their grievances.

The positions of exponents of a "centrist and conservative" Islam, who are "often called 'moderate' by the media, although those involved do not like this term," actually "share with Benedict XVI the diagnosis according to which the international crisis is above all a moral crisis," adds the director of CESNUR.
...

"These centrist positions are significant in Islam," explains the report, "they are promoted by large Turkish and Indonesian movements," which draws broad, popular support, and even including the royal families of Jordan and Morocco.

These movements consider themselves to be possible interlocutors with the West, and in particular with the new Pope, despite the fact that in the past many Western countries have marginalized them, preferring to support "secular dictatorial regimes, or even those containing elements of fundamentalism."

Jordan's king: Muslim unity needed

AMMAN, Jordan, July 4 (UPI) -- Jordan's King Abdullah denounced Monday what he called the unjust campaign of slandering Islam and urged Muslims to unite in confronting extremism. 

Speaking at the opening of a three-day international Islamic conference in Amman, Abdullah said, "One of the most important duties of Muslims is to present the real bright image of Islam, which is based on moderation, tolerance, forgiveness, mercy and dialogue with others."

"The acts of violence and terrorism carried out by certain extremist groups in the name of Islam are utterly contradictory to the principles and ideology of Islam," Abdullah told the conference attended by some 170 representatives from the various Muslim sects from 40 countries.

"Such acts give non-Muslims excuses to attack Islam and interfere in the affairs of Muslim peoples," Abdullah added.

Our Worsening Terrorism Problem

Bush's answer is that democracy, over time, will bring stability to the Middle East and contain the terrorism problem. I agree, but given the stakes for the United States and the world, the administration must examine the short-run consequences of political change, which is that it might lead to more terrorism, not less. That's why the proper goal in these changing societies isn't simply democracy but the rule of law.

Consider several practical examples. Last month, Jordan's King Abdullah removed his intelligence chief, Saad Kheir, as part of his effort to push for democratic reforms. The king believed that Kheir had been meddling in domestic politics and blocking his reform agenda. But Kheir was also one of the wiliest anti-terrorism operators in the world, whose agents had broken a string of al Qaeda plots against the United States and Jordan. Will a more democratic Jordan be as useful an ally in the fight against terrorism? I hope so, but it's certainly possible that in the short run a freer society won't be as successful in controlling potential terrorists.

Or take the case of Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak's undemocratic regime is in many ways an abomination. But it does have one area of undisputed success -- combating terrorism. Egypt's chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, is said to be a clever spymaster who excels in counterterrorism operations. But Egypt's Mukhabarat, like Jordan's, is a symbol of repression, and you could argue that in a more democratic Egypt, Suleiman will go the way of Kheir. The haunting question is whether, by weakening state control, democratic change will undermine Egypt's ability to contain the terrorist network that produced Ayman Zawahiri and other al Qaeda leaders.

(if Jordan goes "democratic" and Egypt does not, will things move in this direction?)

AMMAN, June 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Jordanian King Abdullah II said hereThursday that his country was devoted to assisting the Palestinian people and lobbying global supports for the peace process that will restore their legitimate rights.

    Abdullah made the remarks earlier in the day during his meetingwith Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation, which also include Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Salim Azaanoun,

    During the meeting, the king underscored the necessity of solidarity among all Palestinian political forces for the sake of their fair cause, urging for unifying all energies of the Palestinian people in the service of their hopes and aspirations.

If It's a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution

Bush enlists Jordanian leader as Mideast peace intermediary

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- President Bush on Thursday asked Jordan's King Abdullah to bring his "voice of reason" to the Mideast peace process by paying visits to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

After meeting with Abdullah in the Oval Office, Bush said the king "graciously agreed" to his request.

No date for the meetings has been set, U.S. and Jordanian officials said.

"I want to thank you, sir, for taking a leadership role," Bush told Abdullah when reporters were invited in at the end of their meeting. "It will be very helpful to have your voice of reason there to talk to both leaders."

Sitting next to Bush in the Oval Office, Abdullah thanked him for his support for trying to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I know that you want to find a solution" so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and harmony, Abdullah said.

The significance of the king’s speech was threefold, he said.

AMMAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II met a senior EU official on Thursday, calling for more aid to assist the effort of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in establishing an independent Palestinian state.

    During meeting with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations and European neighbourhood policy, King Abdullah spoke highly of the EU's significant effort in promoting the Middle East peace process and emphasized the EU's role in mediating between Israel and Palestine. 

    The king also reiterated Jordan will work hard to help advance the peace process and called on the international community to join the effort to help carry out plans laid out in the "road map".

Cartoon controversy exposed fault lines in global society — Monarch

My friends,

This is, quite frankly, a moment of tremendous global unease. The disquiet that many of us feel was captured in a recent headline proclaiming the "end of tolerance." It was prompted, of course, by the controversy over cartoons denigrating the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him.

Much has been said about the cartoon crisis and how it grew. Let me simply say that Muslims around the world — and I am one of them — condemned the denigration of the prophet. The majority of Muslims also condemn the violence that ensued as alien to the principles of Islam. And I know that many in the West also spoke out, rejecting the vilification of Islam.

The cartoon controversy has exposed the fault lines in our global society. Not so long ago, we saw our world as one of dynamic interconnections and multicultural tolerance. But today — even as our cultures and economies interact more than ever before — the talk is of a clash of civilisations. Because, as the age of globalisation has grown, it has not grown in the most significant way; it has not moved beyond tolerance, to creating cultures of respect, rooted in understanding.

There is no clash of civilisations. But we have received a grave warning. And we know, too, that there are those among us who seek to deepen the fault lines. They would capitalise on our lack of understanding about each other, to set off an earthquake of anger, resentment and fear. This applies not only between East and West, but within Eastern and Western cultures.  [Yes, friends, we must have a solution to this problem.  Of course, if you read the Bible, you know the cure is worse than the disease.]

We should not mistake what a clash of civilisations would mean in practical terms. A breakdown in the ties of trade and investment that are vital for economic growth and job opportunity. Barriers to solutions to cross-border problems — health, environment, poverty and more. The erosion of joint security cooperation, which has played such a key role in containing and ending regional conflicts. Serious obstacles in the path of international development. A halt to the cultural exchange that enriches life everywhere. [The ultimate joint security operation is described here.]

The entire world has a stake in a stable, forward-looking Iraq. Last month's heinous attacks on sacred places were clearly intended to fan sectarian strife. I have repeatedly urged Iraqis to stand together — and stand firm — against such provocation. To advance that cause, Jordan has called for a conference in Amman... to bring together Iraqi religious leaders to find a way to preserve Iraq's unity... and to restore, as soon as possible, its security and stability.

The Palestinian-Israeli peace process is also at a critical point. Only a lasting peace will enable people on both sides to build the positive future they need. And the only guarantee for peace is the two-state solution: A viable, sovereign Palestinian state, living alongside a secure Israel. Between today's realities and that positive future, there is an urgent need to build some new bridges. The foundation of peace is, can only be, respect.

Jordan's King Abdullah said Sunday the problems in the Middle East go beyond the war in Iraq and that much of the region soon could become engulfed in violence unless the central issues are addressed quickly.

"We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands," he said, citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.

"Therefore, it is time that we really take a strong step forward as part of the international community and make sure we avert the Middle East from a tremendous crisis that I fear, and I see could possibly happen in 2007," he said.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Abdullah said he remained hopeful a summit he will host this week in Amman with President George W. Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, will somehow lower the sectarian violence that threatens to push Iraq into all-out civil war.

"We hope there will be something dramatic. The challenges, obviously, in front of both of them are immense," the king said.

"We have to make sure that all parties in Iraq understand the dangers of the ongoing escalation. I hope Prime Minister Maliki will have some ideas ... on how he can be inclusive in bringing all the different sects inside of Iraq together. They need to do it now," he said, "because, obviously, as we're seeing, things are beginning to spiral out of control."

The king spoke of the urgent for a change in course in Iraq.

"There needs to be some very strong action taken on the ground there today," he said. "I don't think we're in a position where we can come back and revisit the problem in early 2007. There needs to be a strategy. There needs to be a plan that brings all the parties together, and bring them today and not tomorrow."

Bush plans to fly to Jordan after attending a NATO summit in Latvia. Vice President Dick Cheney made a quick trip to Saudi Arabia for talks on Saturday as part of the administration's effort to bring peace to the region.

The Iraqi prime minister is under pressure from Shiite politicians loyal to the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who have threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki meets with Bush. Sadr and his followers are a mainstay of his political support.

"This is all political posturing. It's all red herring. It's an anti-threat. This is a very stable government," responded Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, in an interview Sunday on "Late Edition" on CNN. He said he had no doubt the prime minister would meet with Bush in Jordan.

Abdullah said it is natural that Americans, with troops fighting in Iraq, view that war as the major problem in the Middle East.

"But, for the majority of us living in this part of the world, it has always been the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab problem. I fear that if we do not use the next couple of months to really be able to push the process forward, I don't believe that there will be anything to talk about."

Unless something is done soon to lower the tension, he said, the two-state solution of Israel and an independent Palestinian state existing side by side becomes less a possibility.

"If we don't solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem then how can we ever solve the Israeli-Arab problem?" he said. "Do we resign this whole region to another decade or two of violence?"

The king said that he hoped in his discussions with Bush, the leaders can "concentrate ourselves on the core issues, which we believe are the Palestinians and the Palestinian peace process, because that is a must today, as well as the tremendous concern we've had over the past several days, (with) what's happening in Lebanon."

King Abdullah II has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit Jordan, the official Petra news agency reported.

The invitation was delivered by Queen Rania, who met with the pontiff at the end of a visit to Italy.

No specific date was proposed.

The queen expressed to the pope her husband's "gratitude ... for the efforts he had made toward reinforcing cooperation and comprehension among different confessions and of spreading the value of love and peace," Petra said.

She also said "Jordan hoped to strengthen cooperation with the pope and with the Vatican toward advancing the Middle East peace process."

Queen Rania was in Rome to sponsor the launching of a programme for developing vaccines against diseases endemic in poor countries.

Jordan is a moderate Muslim nation but around six percent of the population is Christian, mostly Greek Orthodox.

Last week, the pope called on Christians, Jews and Muslims to pursue and intensify dialogue among their religions while respecting differences, as he met with an inter-faith delegation.

He sparked outrage in the Muslim world in September with remarks that were seen as linking Islam with violence.

Benedict has made repeated gestures of good will towards Muslims since then.

The most stunning gesture came in late November, when he assumed an attitude of Muslim prayer at Istanbul's Blue Mosque, accompanied by a Muslim dignitary, during a visit to Turkey.

Israel, Jordan, Palestinians agree on economic zone: Peres

Ephraim Sneh, the Israeli deputy defence minister, told AFP in Davos that a zone would take up the entire valley from the Red Sea near Aqaba to the Sea of Galilee.

Peres has been pushing the project "for a long time," Sneh said, saying it would bring together a "convergence of interests" between the three countries.

"It's not a matter of weeks but it will happen I believe," he added.

"The creation of an integrated economy of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, this is the core of the future Middle East," Sneh said."

"The prince that shall come" is the antichrist.  The antichrist is of "the people [that] shall destroy the city."  The "city" is Jerusalem and was destroyed by the Roman soldiers in 70 A.D.  Therefore, the antichrist is from the “Romans”, NOT the (EC) European Community per se.  Part of the EC is included in the Roman Empire, but there are parts of the Roman Empire that are NOT in the EC.  To fulfill this prophecy the antichrist does not have to come from the Roman areas, but must be a descendent of Roman peoples. There is additional information in the Bible that seems to indicate that the antichrist arises from Assyria (now the Syria-Jordan area).  Syria is one of the four parts into which the empire of Alexander the Great fell.  [It is said in Daniel 8:23-25 that the antichrist would come out of one of these parts (horns).   Read The Antichrist is from Assyria .]   Nine reasons the antichrist is not from Europe.

My questions is this:  Does the AC HAVE to be a Roman?  The Roman army that destroyed the temple was mostly made up of Edomites, local area soldiers were given citizenship for performing duty in the Military.  I can’t find my source on this but I remember reading this somewhere.

Herod was also an Ideumean (edomite) was he not?

Jordan Replaces P.A. in MK Elon's Peace Plan

(IsraelNN.com) MK Rabbi Benny Elon is reissuing his Right Road to Peace plan that calls for the Palestinian Authority to cease to exist, and be replaced by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

MK Elon, head of the National Union party and its Moledet Party faction, originally wrote the plan in May 2003 and has now updated it with references to, and lessons learned from, the Second Lebanon War, the Disengagement from Gaza, and other recent events.
The plan calls for Israel, the United States and the entire international community to recognize the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as the sole legitimate representative of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria.  Israel will assume full sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, while Jordan grants citizenship to the Arabs living there. Israel and Jordan will cooperate in coordinating the running of local affairs.

PM, Abdullah discuss Jerusalem split

Obama Speech Signals a U.S. Shift on Middle East

When Mr. Obama declared that resolving the long-running Middle East dispute was a “vital national security interest of the United States,” he was highlighting a change that has resulted from a lengthy debate among his top officials over how best to balance support for Israel against other American interests. 

This shift, described by administration officials who did not want to be quoted by name when discussing internal discussions, is driving the White House’s urgency to help broker a Middle East peace deal. It increases the likelihood that Mr. Obama, frustrated by the inability of the Israelis and the Palestinians to come to terms, will offer his own proposed parameters for an eventual Palestinian state.

WASHINGTON - His Majesty King Abdullah and US President Barack Obama on Monday reaffirmed the Jordanian-US partnership in talks that focused on means to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the areas of education, science, culture and entrepreneurship.

The two leaders also discussed efforts to achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and all Arab countries.

They exchanged ideas on ways to overcome obstacles impeding the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. They agreed that proximity talks should begin quickly and transition to direct negotiations to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution as soon as possible.

King and Obama also agreed that both sides should refrain from actions that undermine trust during these talks. King Abdullah raised Jordan’s concerns about Israeli unilateral actions in Jerusalem, stressing on the necessity of stopping all such actions that seek to change facts on the ground.

King Abdullah and Obama also discussed Iran’s nuclear file. The US president stressed the importance of international efforts to pressure Iran to ensure that it upholds its international obligations, including through the imposition of sanctions. King Abdullah stressed the need to resolve the issue through diplomatic means.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and holding all signatories accountable. King Abdullah emphasised that transparency on nuclear programmes should apply to all countries, reiterating Jordan’s position calling for a Middle East region free from all weapons of mass destruction.

Please e-mail us with questions or comments today.   I may be wrong, but, the Bible is never wrong.