It is widely known that during the period after Israel's War of Independence when Jordan annexed Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem, they worked hard to erase any Jewish connection to the land. From building Arab neighborhoods on top of a 3000-year-old Jewish cemetery that was central to the story of figures from King David to Jesus, to turning the Western Wall into a literal garbage dump, the Jordanians felt the need to whitewash Jewish claims to the area. Today, it seems that the Jordanians are still bent on that plan, despite renouncing claims to the area in 1988 and their constant backing of a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.
Forget the peace agreement with Israel and the extraordinary reliance on the Jewish state for trade and basics like water Jordan has, from their own public relations it seems the Jordanians are not happy with the arrangements. There is still a lot of hatred for Jews and a desire to destroy physical proof of the former Judean and Israeli kingdoms. On the website of the Royal Hashemite Court, the official name of the kingdom that controls the area that sits on over 73% of former Mandatory Palestine, there are plans that expressly admit this.
Jordan destroyed dozens of synagogues, desecrated Mount of Olives cemetery, ethnically cleansed Jews & stole land & property.
ā (((A. Zionist))) (@a_zionist) February 3, 2022
Jewish Shimon HaTzaddik, where Yemenite Jews lived from mid-19thC, was RENAMED Sheikh Jarrah! @amnesty wipes out Jewish history & redefines "apartheid" pic.twitter.com/px1SHyfGW6
According to the website, "in Jerusalem, the pillars of the mosques and the bells of the churches hug each other, and the blood of the martyrs is spilled on its land. That is why they drove out all the invaders until they disappeared, and such will be the fate of the Zionist invaders." Jordan's King sees himself as the protector of Muslim Holy Sites, a title the family held for over a millennium since the days of Muhammad, but lost in the 1920s to the Al-Saud family in a bloody war.
The family was exiled from Arabia after that and as a consolation prize by the British for the Hashemite's help in defeating the Ottomans, Jerusalem suddenly became a Muslim Holy Site, and Jordan, which was Palestine, became a country. For some reason, the Hashemites added Christian holy sites to their dossier as well, despite objections from the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
After sitting in ruins for centuries, the Hashemite occupiers redecorated it but here's proof it was desolate and in ruins, just like the Al aqsa mosque a few meters away with grass growing inside of it pic.twitter.com/1vnKmxp4NF
ā Ana š¦ā” š®š±š It's 1 second to midnight š (@Scripteladora) May 10, 2020
The site that Palestinians use as propaganda for their struggle is essentially still being claimed by the Jordanians. The Hashemite Court's website does not seem to be satisfied with simple musings, it literally outlines actual plans that are not in the territory of Jordan but in the heart of the compound that is the holiest place for the Jewish faith and the crown jewel in the heart of Israel's capital city. "Out of concern for the Palestinian cause since the era of Amir Hussein Bin Ali also known as the great-grandfather of the current King of Jordan, who died in 1931 and is buried on the Temple Mount, King Talal, and King Hussein, may their souls rest in peace, the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem are still at the center of the political and diplomatic activity of His Majesty the King Abdullah II Bin Hussein since receiving his constitutional powers on February 7, 1999."
Among other things, a multitude of plans for "renovation" and construction on the Temple Mount are noted by the Royal Court, some of which have already been drawn up, some of which are being planned out, and some of which are merely a plan, a renovation which from past experience often involves the destruction of Jewish antiquities. For example, "the issuance of the royal decree for the establishment of the fund for the restoration of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in 2007. His Majesty donated one million and 113 thousand Jordanian dinars to support the fund."
The website details the renovation projects on the Temple Mount, which are referred to on the website as the "fifth Hashemite restoration" in the complex. Among other things, there appears here a plan for the "construction of a fifth minaret for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque". By the phrase "Al-Aqsa Mosque" the Jordanians mean the entire Temple Mount complex which is the size of three to four football fields. Al Aqsa mosque, a former Byzantine Church called 'The Church of St. Mary of Justinian' is one building that sits in the northeastern corner of the complex. "The location of the fifth minaret," it said there, "was carefully chosen to occupy a middle position close to both the Golden Gate and the Lions Gate, but the construction has not yet been carried out."
Al Aqsa has become a hive of terror in the heart of Israel for too long. If the Waqf and Jordan do not/Can not stop this they have no right to manage it the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs must assume immediate responsibility for it. pic.twitter.com/hJFyz1FmeK
ā ElBluemountain #JusticeforMalkiRoth š®š± (@EBluemountain1) May 12, 2021
Another Jordanian plan concerns the underground spaces in the mountain and the water cisterns underneath it. Around the mountain there are about fifty very ancient underground tunnels and chambers, a significant part of them from the First and Second Temple times and some even earlier, to which the researchers of our time have no access, and almost all the information about them relies on the excavations of the 19th century.
One thing is for certain, the government that exists today in Israel and in fact, most of its previous governments would never allow such changes to be made after the last time. In the 1990s, Israel approved work to expand a doorway to an area known as Solomons Stables which is used as a secondary mosque under Al Aqsa. The result was massive destruction to the site, with more than a doorway being expanded.
Clay Seals Give Clues to Wealth of Biblical Jerusalem
ā Biblical Archaeology Review (@BibArch) January 10, 2022
A study, looking at fresh evidence from the clay seals (bullae) recovered from the Temple Mount Sifting Project...https://t.co/Uktws0pgAX pic.twitter.com/25j5Ebs15v
Tons of debris were carted away with no archaeological oversight. Israeli archaeologists ran to protect the area once it was made public what was happening and cordoned off the debris site. Since then, under what is known as the Temple Mount Sifting Project, experts and novices have come to comb through the dirt and rubble. The effort has resulted in hundreds of historical finds from the first temple, all the way through the crusader periods being found.
