History, schmistory. It's all about the money."Jordan has demanded that Israel hand over some of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. The kingdom claims Israel seized the scrolls illegally from a museum in East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.
"Israel seized the scrolls and other antiquities from the Palestinian Museum, which was managed by Jordan in east Jerusalem when it occupied this part of the city in 1967," said Rafea Harahsheh of Jordan's antiquities department...
...The Jordanians recently asked the Canadian government to seize some of the scrolls while they were on display in Toronto."
If they felt so strongly about it, wouldn't they have made this demand rather earlier than thirty years after the fact? They apparently didn't think of it until the scrolls began their first (very lucrative) road trip. Given that the scrolls deal with the history of both Judaism and Christianity, neither of which topics would be of burning interest (well, except maybe to burn the scrolls) to an Arab nation, it's clear the incentive in this request is financial.
I expect we will be hearing from the Jordanians soon - the exhibit opens here in Milwaukee with a members-only reception January 19th.
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