Jordan renews condemnation of Israeli violations

AMMAN — Jordan has condemned the recurrent Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians and violations to the sacredness of Islamic and Christian sanctuaries in Jerusalem.

On Saturday, the Lower House blamed the international community for "doing nothing to stop such racist, extremist policies", which, the lawmakers said, are prone to instigate more terrorism, violence and instability, and undermine all efforts to make peace in the region.

Jordanians will support the Palestinians’ perseverance in the face of the Israeli arrogance, the statement said, urging the international community, particularly the Arab and international parliamentary unions, to shoulder their responsibilities and pressure their governments to condemn and take action to end the Israeli assaults.

The Lower House thanked His Majesty King Abdullah for his supportive stance towards the Palestinians, and urged the Palestinians to stand firm in the face of the “criminal acts committed by the Israeli occupation forces”, voicing its sympathies with the families of those who died in the attacks and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The Senate said in a separate statement that the recent Israeli violations aim at stirring chaos and taking advantage of regional developments and the international community’s apathy to impose a new reality in the Palestinian territories by means of violence.

The Senate statement commended His Majesty’s diplomatic efforts to defend Jerusalem’s holy sites and the Palestinians’ right to establish their independent state. 

The government on Friday denounced the repeated Israeli acts of aggressions, responding to the killing of seven Palestinians on Friday at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza. 

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani said the killings “hold proof of the occupying forces’ human rights violations. 

Momani, who is also the government’s spokesperson, called on the international community to intervene in order to stop the aggression of Israel, as the occupying force, and urged the world support an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian soil. 

Meanwhile, a statement by the Orthodox Consultative Council in Jordan and Palestine quoted Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, all Palestine and Jordan Theophilus III as commending His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts to preserve Jerusalem’s holy sites, praising the Hashemite role as custodians of these shrines.

The Engineers for Palestine and Jerusalem Committee in the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) organised on Friday a public rally in solidarity with Jerusalem, according to a JEA statement.

The demonstration was held at the Professional Associations Complex yard in cooperation with the Jordanian Commission to Defend Al Aqsa Mosque and other Holy Sites in Jerusalem.

Also on Friday, Jordanians rallied in front of Al Kalouti Mosque in Amman, and raised slogans demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Jordan and the end of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty.