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Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound UnrestThreatens Israel-Jordan Diplomacy

Jordan has decided to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv, and its parliament has voted unanimously to expel the Israeli ambassador in reaction to the latest Israeli incursion into Al-Aqsa mosque, reports Daoud Kuttab.
Israeli border police officers guard the front of Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City during a parade marking Jerusalem Day May 8, 2013. Jerusalem Day marks the anniversary of Israel's capture of the Eastern part of the city during the 1967 Middle East War. In 1980, Israel's parliament passed a law declaring united Jerusalem as the national capital, a move never recognised internationally. There were confrontations on Wednesday between Muslims and Jews outside Jerusalem's walled Old City, where al-Aq

Sometimes the best way to gauge reactions to a particular action is to look away from it. The reactions of the Jordanian parliament and government on Wednesday, May 8, to Israel's decisions regarding Al-Aqsa mosque is a prime example.

Jordan, one of two Arab countries that has signed a peace agreement with Israel, decided to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv and summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a strong complaint about the events in Jerusalem. The Jordanian parliament, however, was much more radical, with MPs voting unanimously to demand that the government expel the Israeli ambassador.

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