Jordanians demonstrate against Israeli measures in Jerusalem

Amman - About 3,000 Jordanians demonstrated in Amman on Friday to protest what they called an Israeli conspiracy against al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish (Zionist) state seized from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. The rally, organized by the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement and its political arm the Islamic Action Front (IAF), was held under the slogan "al-Aqsa in Danger".

Participants condemned Arab and Muslim governments for their failure to challenge Israeli attempts to "Judaize" East Jerusalem.

The protesters also claimed that Israel would attempt eventually to demolish al-Aqsa Mosque to rebuild the biblical Solomon's temple in its place.

Speakers during the rally called on the Jordanian government to sever diplomatic ties with Israel and urged Arab countries to back "resistance" against Israeli occupation.

The Jordanian government concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, but the Islamic-led opposition parties and the country's 14 trade unions are still against the peace pact and the normalization of ties with Israel.

Under the provisions of the pact, Israel acknowledged Amman's right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy shrines in East Jerusalem.

A series of raids into al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli troops over the past months prompted the Jordanian government to accuse Israel of failing to honor its commitments under international law as an occupation power.