08-Dec-18: How closely aligned are Jordan and Hamas?

Al-Rishq of Hamas  [Image Source]

As you read this brief news report from a respected Arab source, keep in mind that the US Department of State, in the most recent edition (published in September 2018) of its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" calls the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan "a committed partner on counterterrorism and countering violent extremism".

Hamas welcomes Jordan’s decision to host Al-Aqsa conference
Member of Hamas’ political bureau Izzat Al-Rishq welcomed Jordan’s decision to host an international conference on the dangers facing Al-Aqsa Mosque under the patronage of King Abdullah II. “Jordan’s official announcement of hosting an international conference to support Al-Aqsa Mosque is a step in the right direction to stop the Judaisation programme,” he said. Al-Rishq said King Abdullah II’s patronage of the conference is an important message that highlights the dangers facing Muslim sanctities. The Jordanian Minister of Endowment Abdel Nasser Abul Basal announced this week that his ministry is to host a conference titled “A Call from the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque” under the patronage of King Abdullah II on 20 December. More than 1,000 participants are expected to attend the event which will highlight the dangers faced by both Christian and Muslim sites in occupied Jerusalem. [Middle East Monitor, December 6, 2018]

Jordan's British-led military imposed a massively destructive occupation (Wikipedia) on what is today called East Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967 in the course of which historic Jewish synagogues and holy sites in the Jewish people's most sacred place on earth were systematically pulverized and incinerated.

This week's praise from Hamas comes a day after Jordan joined 56 other states in voting down a US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations ["In Blow to Haley, U.N. Rejects Measure Condemning Hamas", New York Times, December 6, 2018]:

In remarks before the vote, Ms. Haley characterized the resolution as an opportunity for the 193 member states of the General Assembly to put themselves on the side of “truth and balance.” Though the body has voted many times to condemn Israel, never once has it passed a resolution critical of Hamas, an organization Ms. Haley described as one of the “most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world.”

Of the 177 countries who voted, 87 gave their support to condemning Hamas. Under normal circumstances that would have been enough for the vote to be carried since only 57 opposed. But because 33 abstained, the resolution - which needed a super-majority of two-thirds because of some last minute chicanery from several Arab entities led by Kuwait - was defeated.

Jordan, as we noted, cast its vote in favor of the jihadists. What this means in terms of what the US State Department calls its "counterterrorism and countering violent extremism" strategy is a subject we plan to revisit in the next day or two.

UPDATE December 9, 2018 at 8:30 am: We have some additional information about this act of Jordanian grotesquery. See "09-Dec-18: More on that Jordanian conference to "defend" Jerusalem"