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By Daoud Kuttab

The US ambassador to Jordan held an iftar (breaking the fast) dinner at his residence Monday night for Jordanian guests representing diverse religious representations.

Participants said that the situation of the holy places in Jerusalem was the focus of most of the discussion at the Iftar table.

Ambassador Henry T. Wooster told Milhilard.com “I enjoyed hearing from a deeply respected group of religious leaders from a variety of faiths about Jordan’s rich interfaith tradition and how they are working together to promote tolerance and compassion.”

Advocate Tagreed Doughmit who prepared a study about the impact of religious affiliation on exercising civil rights and religious freedoms in Jordan, said that the iftar was a nice gesture regarding religious pluralism in Jordan. “What is nice about Jordan is that there is acceptance to religious diversity and an understanding of the need for equal citizenship without discrimination to be preeminent.”

Former Army Major General and former head of the Jordan Evangelical Council said that the invitation to Jordanian evangelicals is a clear signal. “As Jordanian citizens, we are proud of our country and our king, we carry out our responsibilities and insist on our equal rights.”

Tahani Rouhi a representative of Baha’is in Jordan said that the iftar invitation arrived while she was out of town, she said, however, “I thank the US embassy for this gesture which reflects a true implementation of the concept of coexistence both in words and in deeds.”

It was interesting in the social media posts that the embassy described the invitees as Christians, Muslims, and Druze. The Jordanian government considers Druze to be Muslims.

original story in Arabic here