"Our armed forces commemorate religious harmony"

A few days ago, I accepted a gracious invitation from the General Command of the Jordan Armed Forces, the Arab Army, to participate in the annual celebration of Interfaith Harmony Week. The event was held at Prince Hassan Faculty of Islamic Sciences under the patronage of Assistant for Administration and Human Resources Brigadier General Khalil Al-Dajeh who represented the chief of staff, Minister of Awqaf Dr. Mohammad Khalayleh, the Mufti of the Armed Forces, the Chief Islamic Justice, and the event’s co-host, Director of the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center Fr. Nabil Haddad.

This event holds great significances. First, it commemorates the Interfaith Harmony Week, which was proposed by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein in September 2010  at the United Nations and was unanimously adopted by several countries in October of the same year, during a visit by a high-level Jordanian delegation led at the time by His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Ibn Muhammad. This year commemorates its 15th anniversary which is marked on this week every February. Since 2020, it has included “Human Fraternity Day” on February 4, commemorating the signing of the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” by Pope Francis and the Imam of Al-Azhar, whose award was received by Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Second, the celebration highlights the fact that the Arab Army—the nation’s impregnable and strong shield—is an inseparable part of the country’s venerable institutions, that complies with the Royal call for harmony and for reflecting the essence of our beloved homeland. The Christians of this homeland have honorably been part of the Arab Army since the founding of the Jordanian Emirate, who fulfilled their duties in association their Muslim brethren through thick and thin in the same battalions and barracks. They fought, were martyred, and their pure blood mingled as a symbol of cherished national unity.

This prompted me in my address which I was honored to deliver to enumerate some Christian martyrs, including Hanna Issa Nasrawin, martyred in 1948 and buried at Latrun Monastery near Jerusalem; Touma Hijazin, martyred by the walls of Jerusalem in 1967 near the Latin Patriarchate, who is referred to as “the stubborn and brave soldier”; my cousin Mansour Ibrahim Bader, martyred in 1970; and many others, including the young martyr Lana Sayyagh, martyred in the 2005 Amman terrorist bombings. Our harmony transcends speeches, since it is the harmony of shared destiny, blood, and future under the wise Hashemite leadership.

Third, among the outstanding attendees were a number of military attachés from brotherly Arab and friendly foreign embassies. This sent a message from the Jordanian Hashemite school which extends inspiring models of harmony to the world, encouraging other nations to emulate Jordan in rejecting racism, fanaticism, and extremism, as well as proving that religion is in the service of harmony and peace rather than schism and conflict.

Greetings are conveyed to our Arab Army.