Last month we noted that a delegation from the Jordanian parliament had held various meetings in London – including with British parliamentarians – while on a visit organised by a group headed by a Hamas-linked professional activist.
Jordanian media outlets reported at the time that:
“MP Yahya Saud, who leads a parliamentary delegation to London, on Tuesday said that Jordan is paying the price of defending the Palestinian cause and safeguarding the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.”
And:
“The meeting figured high on the Hashemite custodianship over Muslim and Christian shrines in occupied Jerusalem.”
We remarked at the time that:
“Had the BBC reported this story it could have performed a useful public service by informing MPs and the public alike that, although Jordan has been trying for some time to promote the notion that it holds custodianship of Christian sites in Jerusalem, as recently documented by our colleagues at CAMERA Arabic that is not the case.”
Earlier this week the Jordanian parliament adopted recommendations proposed by a committee headed by the same controversial MP.
“Jordanian lawmakers on Monday urged their government to kick Israel’s ambassador out of the kingdom and “review” the 1994 peace treaty with the Jewish state.
The MPs’ call came during an “emergency” meeting of the country’s House of Representatives in Amman on Monday to discuss the “recent violations, including the storming by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers, of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque/Noble Sanctuary,” the state-funded Al-Mamlaka TV reported. […]
At the meeting, MP Yahya Al-Saud put forward 17 recommendations drawn up by the parliamentary Palestine Committee, which he chairs. The text of the recommendations referred to Israel as “the Zionist entity” and warned against “allowing Jewish settlers to carry out Talmudic prayer” at the Temple Mount.
The recommendations included “expelling the ambassador of the Zionist entity in Amman”; the recall of Jordan’s ambassador to Israel; a “review” of the 1994 peace treaty between the two countries; an affirmation that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is 144 dunams in size — that is, that it constitutes the entirety of the Temple Mount area and not just the mosque building, and therefore that no non-Muslims are permitted anywhere on the mount; backing continued custodianship of the holy site by Jordan’s Hashemite monarchy; and rejecting an alleged plot by Israel to divide the Temple Mount into Muslim-only and Jewish-only sections and prayer times.”
The text of the recommendations adopted by the Jordanian parliament also includes a clause:
“…Stressing the importance of the sustainability of the Hashemite custodianship on Christian and Islamic holy places in Jerusalem. This is a historic right that has been guaranteed by international covenants.”
However, the BBC – which in recent years has promoted itself as battling ‘fake news‘ – has once again chosen to ignore a story about Jordanian propagation of false claims concerning one of the world’s most sensitive locations.
Related Articles:
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Sky, AFP, Reuters (in Arabic) declare Jordan guardian of Jerusalem’s Christian holy sites (UK Media Watch)
Sky News Arabia falsely claims Jordan has custody over Jerusalem’s Christian shrines (UK Media Watch)
