The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is hardly Israeli-friendly, but the unwelcoming attitude Jordanians have toward Israelis was particularly noticeable on Monday, a day after an Israeli Embassy guard shot and killed two Jordanians while being attacked with a screwdriver by one of them. One of the Jordanians at the border crossing, Issa, echoed public sentiment when he told me: "We love tourists, but not Israelis. You Israelis think only about how to humiliate the Muslims and how to take control over the holy sites in Jerusalem. You don't have any rights over Haram al-Sharif [the Noble Sanctuary, the Arabic name for the Temple Mount]. You are an occupying power, and occupied land must be returned to its rightful owner." In the eyes of the average Jordanian, Israel used the July 14 terrorist attack at the Temple Mount compound, in which three Israeli Arabs killed two Israeli policemen, as a pretext to change the status quo and usurp more control over the area. "Israel hurts Muslims' feelings, so it is not surprising that the response comes in the form of terrorist attacks," a Jordanian police officer guarding the area near the Israeli Embassy told me. The attack in Halamish last Friday -- in which three members of a family were stabbed to death in their home -- was "a natural response to Israel's crimes," he says. "You kill Palestinian women, children and elderly every day," he says. "The settlers have usurped private Palestinian land, and they expect to live peacefully? They should leave the Palestinian land. The settlements are like cancer. If the disease is not cured, it will metastasize." The Jordanian street, which by and large wants to abrogate the 1994 peace treaty with Israel, considered the embassy incident as one incident too many. "This is not peace," Attef, who lives in one of the capital's suburbs, told me. He had arrived at the embassy area to participate in a protest organized by Salafists who demanded canceling the peace treaty with Israel. "The Israeli Embassy guard killed two Jordanians; he said this was in self-defense, but he has refused to talk with investigators," he continued. "This is not how friends behave. Only enemies behave this way. I think the decision to prevent him from leaving the country was the right decision. If he is found guilty, he should be executed." The guard, along with additional Israeli Embassy personnel, was later allowed to return to Israel for treatment. The anger on the streets was everywhere. Even the reception clerk at the hotel advised us not to speak Hebrew so that we would not be identified as Israeli. "Jordan is a welcoming country and we accept you here because our tradition and pride is all about hospitality. But I don't have to be your friend, and I am not your friend," a man on the street told me. "Israelis are not welcome here when they try to erase the Arab and Islamic ties to Jerusalem and the holy sites. You have only one goal -- to Judaize Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque, and we are not going to let that happen." But for all the outrage, there were also more nuanced voices. "We need to solve this crisis as fast a possible," said Abu Said, who owns a souvenir shop in Amman. "During the first few years after the peace treaty, Israeli tourist groups contributed heavily to our economy, but now the number of Israeli tourists is dwindling. Israel and Jordan also have to find a common language. My father grew up in Jaffa until 1948. He always told us that Jews were smart. Your wisdom and wit is what saved you for thousands of years. Where are these qualities now? You are now making the problem worse rather than just solving it."
