Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood on Friday led a protest of around 3,000 people calling on the emergency Arab summit this weekend to sever all ties with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Saying their request reflected the "popular Arab will", speakers from the Muslim Brotherhood, opposition parties and union leaders also called for a "jihad" or holy war against Israel.
The protest gathered outside City Hall in downtown Amman following Friday prayers organized by the brotherhood at the nearby Al-Husseini Mosque, and was sanctioned by authorities, which earlier this month banned demonstrations.
"The blood of Muhamad al-Durra is asking me why you accepted the peaceful solution," the protesters chanted as they marched the one kilometer (mile) stretch between the mosque and the town hall.
They were referring to the 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed by Israeli gunfire as his father tried in vain to protect him in the early days of the three-week violence that has rocked the Palestinian territories.
Durra's tragic death has become a symbol of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation after it was captured live by French television.
"We want to return, Oh Summit, We want to return to our homeland," in Palestine, the marchers called out.
"In Jerusalem the stones spoke. We don't want a summit," some chanted, suggesting that the summit of Arab leaders in Cairo on Saturday and Sunday will be important in the face of Israel.
"We don't want a summit, we don't want a conference. We want tanks," they said. Speakers told the rally the summit must order all ties cut with Israel and called on Egypt and Jordan to cancel their peace treaties with the Jewish state, which were signed in 1979 and 1994 respectively.
"The Arab summit must cut all diplomatic ties with the Zionist enemy," said Salem al-Felahat, a member of the Brotherhood's executive bureau.
One caller even called on Jordan to reinstate compulsory military service which was phased out in the early 1990s.
Jordanian union leaders earlier said they were determined to go ahead with a massive march on Tuesday in support of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland -- AMMAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
