Jordan Times
Friday, August 12, 2005
Jordan keen to maintain
good ties with Arab Israelis
Kingdom to continue offering Arabs university seats, facilitate
pilgrims' travel to Saudi Arabia
AMMAN (Petra) — Jordan is keen to maintain good
ties with Arab Israelis and offer them all possible help in various fields, His
Majesty King Abdullah stressed Thursday.
Meeting a delegation of tribal leaders from the Naqab (Negev) Desert, His
Majesty said the Kingdom would continue to allocate university seats for Arab
Israelis and facilitate the travel of pilgrims from Israel to Saudi Arabia.
Arab Israeli Knesset Member Talab Sana, who headed the delegation, said Jordan
was the bridge linking Arab Israelis with the Arab world.
He commended the role of King Abdullah in supporting the Middle East peace
process and assisting the Palestinian people in their endeavours to establish
their independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital.
He said his people see that Mideast peace should be built on ending the Israeli
occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, voicing support for
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The delegation thanked the King for all the facilities it is offering them, and
for His Majesty's directives to increase the number of scholarships offered to
Arab Israeli students at local universities.
King Abdullah has previously met on several occasions with Arab members of
Knesset. The King responded to their appeals to expand Jordan's support for Arab
Israelis, especially with regard to the number of seats and scholarships at
Jordanian universities.
Jordan has for decades facilitated the pilgrimage trips to Mecca for Arab
Israelis, who hold Israeli passports.
According to various websources, the population of Naqab bedouins exceeds
100,000, constituting more than 10 per cent of Arab Israelis.
Foreign Minister Farouq Qasrawi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General
Khalid Sarayreh, and the Kingdom's Ambassador to Israel Marouf Bakhit attended
the meeting, which took place at the Royal Court.