At the King’s Iftar Table

Every year, at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, Jerusalemites begin to quietly speculate about the royal iftar—and specifically, about the invitation list. Who among Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian religious and other figures will get an invitation to attend His Majesty King Abdullah II’s iftar at al-Husseiniyya Palace this year?

The invitation is considered a recognition of the high status and social standing of Jerusalem community figures; it is public recognition that all Jerusalemites hope to receive and are eager to document with a photo with His Majesty King Abdullah II. A Waqf Department official told Jerusalem Story that when the invitations are sent out, more people are angered by their failure to receive an invitation than are pleased that they received one.

This year, the lucky delegation to the March 11 dinner was smaller than the previous year and more diverse. It included well-known Jerusalem figures with a history of social, economic, religious, and political work; Waqf Council members; and Christian leaders. Given that Lent coincided with Ramadan this year, the iftar meal thoughtfully included traditional Lent dishes as well.

As usual, the attendees seized this opportunity to converse about issues that concern Jerusalem first and deepen the dialogue between them in these particularly difficult times, which benefits Jerusalem and its people. The King’s hospitality seems to stimulate exchanges among the guests: a monk reproaches a sheikh over a Jerusalem issue and then invites him to visit him to complete the research; another guest remembers the days of living in the Old City with the bishop, also invited, who reminds him of the days they played together in the neighborhood.

And then the conversation turned to more serious topics. The first topic was the suffering of the Holy City. Today, Jerusalem is living through a time that no one expected to ever see even in their worst nightmares. Israel has no red lines, and its measures do not differentiate between the Muslim and Christian Jerusalemites—everyone suffers equally.

The second topic was about the Hashemite custodianship. Jerusalemites are unanimous in their belief that, without the Hashemite role, the condition of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre would be much worse than it is, and so would Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

The King paid special attention to the remarks of Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, Director General of the Islamic Waqf Department and Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Waqf Council in Jerusalem: “Your custodianship of Jerusalem and the holy sites strengthens our steadfastness and our resolve to fulfill our duties toward Jerusalem and its holy sites, which increases in the month of Ramadan to serve the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque,” he told him before the invited guests.1

Al-Khatib responded:

In the same vein, Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Palestine, and Jordan, spoke about the importance of the role of the King as the Hashemite Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. He acknowledged the great political and historical responsibility entailed in that custodianship; it is a trust with spiritual and civilizational dimensions that protects the fabric of the Holy Land and preserves its unique character. He added that the Christian presence in the Holy Land faces an additional serious challenge due to the organized attack launched by extremist Israeli groups to seize church properties in sensitive locations in a systematic attempt to change the demographic and spiritual character of Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land.

Patriarch Theophilos III warned against a phenomenon that is alien to the spirit of Christianity, represented by Christian Zionism; he described it as a movement that distorts the message of Christ and empties it of its spiritual essence, turning it into a tool to serve political agendas that have nothing to do with the Christian faith. He called attention to the increasing attempts to impose restrictions on freedom of worship and access to holy sites and the continued threat to subject church properties to the Israeli municipal tax (see Jerusalem Churches Protect Municipality’s Attempts to Tax Them).

Bishop William Shomali, the Latin Patriarch’s deputy, focused on this and won the admiration of the attendees: “At a time when the conflict in Palestine is not only political or military but also ideological and religious, the Catholic Church does not accept the canonization of the land of Palestine in the name of the Jewish people based on the Torah as claimed by Christian Zionism in America.”

“Finally,” the Bishop asserted: “The end does not justify the means. It is not permissible to subjugate and starve a people as a means of forcing them to emigrate. It is a crime against humanity. Every human being has the right to live with dignity in a homeland and a sovereign state.”

Dr. Mustafa Abu Sway, King Abdullah II Endowment Professor and Chair of Imam al-Ghazali's Thought at Al-Quds University and al-Aqsa Mosque, said:

If there was one thing all Jerusalemites agreed to as they left Amman to return home, it was that the holy city has a special place in the heart of the Hashemites.