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Jordan halts movie over widespread anger

Its portrayal of Jewish ties to nation spark unrest

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press
Published: August 19, 2019, 8:09pm

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A fictional caper about an antiquities heist set in an ancient Jordanian city has stirred widespread outrage over the film’s portrayal of historical Jewish ties to Jordan, shining a light on the tenuous peace with neighboring Israel and prompting the government to suspend the movie’s production.

Based on a book of the same name, the movie, “Jaber,” follows a Jordanian boy who uncovers a stone in the rose-colored, rock-hewn city of Petra with a Hebrew inscription on it. He sets off to sell it to the highest bidder, but interested parties in Israel catch wind of the find, dispatching a Russian organized crime group to pursue the boy and retrieve the stone at any cost.

Opponents of the film say merely discussing a historical Jewish presence in Jordan could open the door to Israeli territorial claims to the Hashemite Kingdom. They point to Israel’s claims over the West Bank and east Jerusalem — war-won territories sought by the Palestinians — which Israel says are rooted in millennia-old Jewish ties, backed up by archaeological finds.

While such a scenario is unlikely in Jordan, the concerns reflect the hostility Jordanians feel toward Israel despite the two countries’ 1994 peace agreement.

“Any talk about Jewish history in Jordan could lead to political claims,” said Ali Elayan, who was slated to play a Jordanian police officer in the movie but withdrew over his opposition to the plot. “That is what happened in Palestine.”

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, then under Jordanian control, in the 1967 Mideast war. Spurred on by religious Jews hoping to restore a Jewish presence in the biblical land of Israel, repeated Israeli governments have erected settlements in the territories that are widely seen as obstacles to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek the West Bank for their future state, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Since signing the landmark peace accord, Israel and Jordan have developed low-key yet strategic ties on energy, water and security. But the relationship has been tested in recent years. Last year, Jordan’s King Abdullah II decided not to renew parts of the peace deal regarding access to farming land. And two years ago, a diplomatic crisis was sparked when a guard at the Israeli Embassy in Amman opened fire after he said he was attacked with a screw driver, killing two Jordanians. Israel swapped out its ambassador to the kingdom and expressed “deep regret” over the incident. The guard, who claimed self-defense, received a hero’s welcome in Israel, infuriating the Jordanians.

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