Tensions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque spill over onto international stage

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

Following three days of clashes between Israeli security forces and Muslim demonstrators at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the King of Jordan has warned Israel that its “provocation” is risking the relationship between the two neighbors. The compound surrounding the mosque – the Temple Mount to Jews; the Haram Al-Sharif to Muslims, and sacred to both – is located in the center of Jerusalem’s Old City, but remains under the custodianship of Jordan which controlled the area before 1967.

“Any more provocation in Jerusalem will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel,” Abdullah II, monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom, said, adding that his government “will not have a choice but to take actions, unfortunately.”

Jordan is one of only two Arab states, along with Egypt, that have signed peace treaties with Israel. Tensions rose in the Old City during the religious holiday of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. With a number of Jewish holy days taking place in the upcoming weeks, including the holiday of Yom Kippur – coinciding this year with Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim Festival of the Sacrifice – there are possibilities of further clashes. This could lead to increased diplomatic tensions between Israel and Jordan, which temporarily withdrew its ambassador to Tel Aviv last year following similar confrontations.

The Hashemite Kingdom’s view of Israel is based on two separate levels – the government and the population, Yoav Alon, from Tel Aviv University’s department of Middle East and African history, told The Media Line. Both governments share a number of strategic interests including countering the Islamic State, links between military and intelligence institutions and curtailing Palestinian nationalism, Alon said.

It is only on the issue of the Al-Aqsa Mosque that the two struggle to see eye to eye. “Jordan sees itself as someone that is responsible for the Temple Mount and that is why they are so touchy about the status quo,” Alon suggested.

Between 1948 and 1967 Jordan controlled the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. Following the capture of this territory, and the holy sites within the Old City by Israel in the Six Day War, Jordan remained custodian of Al-Aqsa.

However the strategic ties of the government in Amman with Israel are not supported by many Jordanians.

“There will always be tension as long as the Palestinian situation is not resolved… because half of the population in Jordan originate in Palestine,” Alon said. This forces King Abdullah II’s government to maneuver between its commitments to the wishes of its people and to the pragmatic approach of realpolitik. “The Jordanian regime has to walk on a tightrope doing a balancing act,” Alon explained.

Negative views of Israel are strong on the streets of the Hashemite Kingdom. “The majority in Jordan are looking to Israel as a government of occupation… especially with the latest escalation against the Palestinians civilians around Al- Aqsa Mosque,” Mohammed Shamma, a Jordanian journalist, told The Media Line. There are activists within Jordanian society who aim to see the peace agreement with Israel cancelled. These groups use events like the clashes in Jerusalem to draw attention to their cause, said Shamma, pointing to a recently held anti-Israel protest in Amman.

Additionally, during Arab spring protests in Jordan in 2011, along with calls for reform and democracy there were widespread demands to change the relationship with Israel, Shamma said. Clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque always push public perception in this direction, with social media users widely disseminating images and videos they believe demonstrate abuses by Israeli security forces, the journalist explained. 

Irrespective of what ordinary Jordanians may think, relations between the government and its Jewish neighbor have remained strong for years. It is worth noting that the King spoke about the relationship with Israel being changed without specifying what that could entail, Uli Wacker, the Jordan director for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, told The Media Line.

The king knows that once he hints Israel has crossed a line it will get the message, Wacker said. Both states share an interest in stable relations and since this confrontation happens every year there is no reason to believe it will affect their relationship, Wacker said.

“The only concern of the Jordanians is that Israel might change the rules on the Temple Mount,” Wacker argued, suggesting that if Jews were allowed to pray there this would bring the whole Islamic world against Israel. But the Jewish state is not stupid enough to do this, he added.

“This little area is one of the tensest areas on this world, because two faiths maintain religious aspirations to this place – the Jewish Temple and the Al-Aqsa mosque,” he concluded.