Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN2432
2002-05-16 09:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

SENIOR ISLAMIC FIGURES PRAISE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM

Tags:  PGOV KISL SOCI IS JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002432 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2012
TAGS: PGOV KISL SOCI IS JO
SUBJECT: SENIOR ISLAMIC FIGURES PRAISE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM
COOPERATION, BUT SHOW DEEP MISTRUST OF ISRAEL AND JUDAISM


Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (B)(D)

-------
SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002432

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2012
TAGS: PGOV KISL SOCI ISRAEL'>IS JO
SUBJECT: SENIOR ISLAMIC FIGURES PRAISE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM
COOPERATION, BUT SHOW DEEP MISTRUST OF ISRAEL AND JUDAISM


Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (B)(D)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) The Chief Justice of the Sharia Court and the Mufti
of the Kingdom recently expressed to us their strong
condemnation of ISRAELi violence in the West Bank and of
suicide bombings, but asked that the U.S. adopt a "more just"
position defending the rights of Palestinians against ISRAELi
occupation. Both praised the piety and religious tolerance
of Americans, noting that their offices spend much of their
time dealing with the personal problems of expatriate
Jordanians living in the West. Both emphasized
Christian-Muslim understanding and cooperation in Jordan.
Unfortunately, both also drew on Quranic verses and popular
myths about Judaism to underscore their mistrust of ISRAEL.
End summary.

--------------
YES TO PALESTINIANS, NO TO TERRORISM
--------------


2. (C) During recent separate meetings with PolCouns, the
Chief Justice of the Sharia Court, Sheikh Izzeddine
al-Tamimi, and the Mufti of the Kingdom, Sheikh Said
al-Hijjawi, both flagged the continuing ISRAELi occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza and recent "aggression" into
Palestinian cities as the most important political issue
facing their flock. Both Tamimi and Hijjawi asserted that
ISRAEL's use of U.S.-provided F-16's, Apache helicopters, and
missiles have convinced average Jordanians and Muslims that
the U.S. supports ISRAELi killing of Palestinians. Hijjawi
argued that the U.S. must use the principles of religion to
develop a "more just" policy that supports the rights of
innocent Palestinians against ISRAELi occupation.


3. (C) Both were quick, however, to reject the killing of
civilians in the name of Islam, quoting verses of the Quran
which call for the protection of civilians in times of war.
The Quran does not permit suicide bombings against innocent
civilians, Tamimi argued, although he said that the U.S. and
ISRAEL must understand that the long ISRAELi occupation has
convinced many Palestinians that they have no other way to
oppose the occupation. Hijjawi strongly rejected the

philosophy of Osama Bin Laden, saying that Bin Laden had
hijacked the peaceful spirit of Islam and used it to
implement his violent, hateful agenda. The West, and
especially the U.S., should not mistake Bin Laden's misdeeds
for the true Islam, which respects the three monotheistic
religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

--------------
ISLAM IN THE U.S.
--------------

4 (C) PolCouns explained that, despite the secular nature
of the U.S. government, religious faith is an important and
deeply rooted element in American society. Americans are
free to worship in the way that they choose, and the vast
majority of Americans also respect that others have the same
right. It is this religious freedom and tolerance that have
permitted Islam and other religions to flourish in the U.S.


5. (C) Both Tamimi and Hijjawi expressed admiration for the
religious freedom enjoyed in the United States. Tamimi said
that Jordanian Sharia courts deal extensively with Islamic
centers in the United States to obtain or verify birth,
death, marriage, and divorce records. He praised the
professionalism of American Islamic Centers, noting that
nearly all of these centers comment favorably on their close
and cooperative relations with local American governmental
authorities.

--------------
ISLAM IN THE MODERN WORLD
--------------


6. (C) The Chief Justice said that Jordanian Sharia courts
deal largely with personal status issues (marriage, divorce,
death, inheritance) for Muslim citizens. These issues have
become more complicated as Jordanian Muslims have traveled
abroad, and met and married people of other faiths in civil
ceremonies. In contrast, the Mufti explained that his office
has a broad -- in fact, borderless -- mandate: to provide
proper Islamic guidance to average citizens who have
questions about how to deal with personal problems. Most
questions -- the proper way to treat new relatives in a
marriage or the need to maintain personal financial
discipline -- are easy to link to the Quran and the hadith
(the collected sayings of the Prophet Mohammed). However,
the Mufti admitted, the researchers in his office spend a lot
of time answering e-mailed questions from Jordanians living
in the West about typically modern problems -- for example,
what to do about incorrect credit card charges, regulating
their children's viewing of cable or satellite television,
and non-Muslim peer pressure on teenage Muslims to date and
drink alcohol.
--------------
TOLERANT OF CHRISTIANITY, LESS SO OF JUDAISM
--------------


7. (C) Both Tamimi and Hijjawi emphasized the strong
Jordanian tradition of tolerance and understanding between
Muslims and Christians. Hijjawi commented that he and a
prominent activist Eastern Catholic (Malkite) priest (who is
well and favorably known to the Embassy) were
"co-conspirators" on several projects to promote
Muslim-Christian understanding. Tamimi, too, talked of the
long-standing cooperation between Christians and Muslims,
saying that the Christian sects who control Jerusalem's
Church of the Holy Sepulcher have entrusted the keys of the
Church to a Muslim.


8. (C) Unfortunately, these positive feelings were not
nearly as strong with regard to Judaism. Why is it that Jews
demand a "Jewish state" in Jerusalem, Hijjawi asked, when
there is no archeological proof that a Jewish temple ever
existed under the Haram al-Sharif (the Muslim complex
containing the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque on top of
Temple Mount)? From there, Hijjawi wove a familiar web of
suspicion of ISRAEL based on half-truths and popular
misconceptions. Tamimi, as well, criticized "Zionist
extremists" for perpetuating the "Jewish occupation" of the
West Bank and Gaza, and cited verses from the Quran advising
that Muslims use great caution in dealing with Jews.
PolCouns responded that Arabs and Muslims would have to deal
with Jewish beliefs just as they asked ISRAEL to deal with
Islamic beliefs.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) Both Tamimi and Hijjawi are moderate, establishment
Islamic figures who represent mainstream Jordanian Sunni
thought. Both expressed admiration for the piety and freedom
of Americans, are strong advocates for Muslim-Christian
understanding in Jordan, and publicly condemned (and continue
to condemn) the September 11 attacks as un-Islamic. Hijjawi
recalled his experience leading a delegation of Muslim
officials to pay respects to the Ambassador at the Embassy's
condolence tent after the attacks.


10. (C) However, even while rejecting Bin Laden's message
against Christians and Jews, both revealed in a matter of
fact way their suspicion of ISRAEL based both in Quranic
passages critical of Jews and popular misconceptions of
Judaism and ISRAEL. This attitude on the part of the two
most senior Islamic officials in Jordan gives some indication
of how deep this current runs in Jordanian society.
Gnehm