More than 5,000 Jordanians staged the country's largest anti-peace rally in nearly a decade on Friday, demanding Palestinian sovereignty over east Jerusalem and urging Hamas group to strike again at Israel, reported Reuters.
“Let Hamas do its effective work in protecting the al-Aqsa Mosque and liberating Palestine,” Abdul Majeed Thunaibat, overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, told cheering crowds at the biggest Islamist rally, said Reuters.
The evening rally was the third event organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party since last month's US-brokered Camp David summit between Palestinian and Israeli leaders.
The crowd was marking the 31st anniversary of an arson attack on al-Aqsa Mosque by an Australian tourist, and protesting controversial Jewish proposals to build a synagogue near the holy Mosque.
Hundreds of protesters at the rally called for a Jihad (Islamic Holy War) and chanted in support of attacks by Hamas members which have killed scores of Israelis over the years, reported AFP.
“We are all your soldiers Hamas...Hamas is the symbol of our strength,” said former MP Hamzeh Mansour, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Jews are our enemies and they have no place in Palestine,” said Mansour, venting popular frustration at the perceived pro-Israel tilt in Washington's Middle East policy.
Participants in the demonstration waved placards calling for "the rejection of any type of normalization" in Arab ties with Israel, a "halt in the peace negotiations" between Israel and the Palestinians and a "holy war" against Israel, added AFP.
Mansour told AFP that the group originally wanted to organize a march for Jerusalem in downtown Amman, but the government rejected the plans for security reasons.
Earlier this month Jordanian police clashed with hundreds of Islamists who wanted to take to the streets after Friday prayers to protest against Israel's control of Jerusalem, said AFP - (Several Sources)
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