Aaron’s Tomb . (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / JONEIKIFI)
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Aaron’s Tomb in Jordan was closed by the nation’s Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Antiquities on Thursday after the “illegal entry” of Jews to site without the knowledge of the ministry, according to Arab media.
The decision to close the site was made after Israeli tourists were filmed performing “Jewish rituals” at the site, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency. It was also decided all visitors would have to obtain approval from the Awqaf in the Ma’an Governorate before entering.
A video circulated in local news websites purportedly showed about 500 Israeli tourists performing the rituals in the area. The site, located on a mountain in the area of Petra, is believed to be the grave of the biblical High Priest Aaron, Moses’s brother.
Thursday night was the first of the Hebrew month of Av, which is also the anniversary of Aaron’s death.
In an interview with Ynet, tour guide Roni Ayalon, who was with the group of tourists described being subjected to humiliating treatment by Jordanian authorities.
“They just stripped down all of us,” he said. “They took off the women’s head scarves. All the boys’ yarmulkes were taken off. They took off everyone’s shirts to see if they had tzitzit (religious fringes) under their clothes and took [the tzitzit] off them. They confiscated any religious symbols they found on us.”
“If there was this kind of humiliation of an Arab on our side who wanted to enter Jerusalem and they would dare to tell him to take off his shirt or confiscate his Koran, there would be a world war,” stated Ayalon. “All the Arabs would jump up. But they can do whatever they want to us.
At the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located, visits by religious Jews are monitored by Waqf guards and Israeli police and all Jewish prayer, including silent prayer, is forbidden on the Temple Mount, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The Waqf is an arm of the Jordanian Ministry of Sacred Properties and administers the site. No sacred Jewish objects, such as prayer books or a prayer shawl, may be brought onto the mount, according to Tourist Israel.
“None of us came to make a mess,” claimed the tour guide. “There was one boy who had a Bar Mitzvah and at Aaron’s Tomb we made a little celebration for him. When the police saw that we were singing, he quieted us and say that it’s forbidden for us to sing.”
Purported photos of Jewish tourists at the site which circulated through Jordanian media showed them praying with a Torah scroll. “I don’t know who read from a Torah scroll,” said Ayalon, according to Ynet. “Our groups acted according to the book. We tried to act in a subdued manner and without opposition, but their behavior was awful.”
According to Ayalon, the group was forbidden from praying while traveling in Jordan, even in their hotel room.
The Awqaf ministry strongly condemned the entry of the tourists and added that an investigation will be opened to find out what happened and who was responsible for allowing them into the site, according to the official Jordan News Agency.
Former Jordanian tourism minister Maha al-Khatib stated that the Israeli ambassador in Jordan filed a complaint against measures taken to limit the actions of Israeli tourists, including the requirement for a guide during tours and a prohibition against wearing religious clothing, according to Al Mayadeen. Khatib also accused tourists of attempting to smuggle in religious clothing.
The former tourism minister also accused Israeli tourists, who she called “the most miserable tourists who make trouble,” of attempting to bury items at various sites in Jordan to “confirm” their claims of their history in the area.
“There is a Zionist scheme to claim ownership of any part of our Arab homeland, especially in archaeological sites,” said Khatib.
“They want to convince the world that any place they went through even for two nights in the old days is their right, but we are not allowed to mention the history of our existence,” said Khatib, according to the Shebab news agency.
Khatib also rejected normalization with Israel and warned against “the continuation of the Zionist plan which aims to gnaw at our homeland,” according to Al Mayadeen. She pointed out that Israelis “forcibly took the right to visit Jordanian territory in the peace treaty, while we are deprived of visiting Palestine.”
Last year in July, Jordanian police reportedly confiscated prayer shawls and tefillin from a group of some 20 haredi men who traveled to the country to visit Aaron’s grave.
Members of the group told Walla News that Jordanian police arrived at the hotel they were staying near Petra and searched their rooms for religious items, confiscating several sets of tefillin and prayer shawls from some members of the group.
Rabbi Menashe Zlikah, a member of the group, told the Kol Hai radio station that Jordanian Police had forbidden them from praying anywhere in Jordan, including the hotel, and told them that anyone who prayed would be arrested.
The men were advised by the Foreign Ministry and Israeli consul in Jordan to keep a low profile and return to Israel as quickly as possible.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
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