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'Bring the suicide bombers...'
02/03/2008 23:11 - (SA)
Amman - Crying for revenge with suicide
attacks, thousands of Jordanians marched in the capital of the
pro-US kingdom on Sunday to protest against Israel's Gaza
offensive that had killed more than 100 Palestinians.
About 10 000 protesters, mainly from Jordan's mainstream
Muslim Brotherhood and smaller opposition groups, took to the
streets in one of the country's most vocal and largest
anti-Israeli demonstrations in recent years.
"O Hamas, O Hamas, bring the suicide bombers ... Victory to
Hamas and defeat to the Jews and Americans," chanted the crowds,
who called on the Islamist group to resume suicide
attacks and intensify rocket strikes against Israel.
Israel's deadliest and deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip
since pulling out in 2005 provoked angry reactions among
Jordanians, many of whom are of Palestinian origin.
A 21-month-old girl, two other civilians and three militants
were killed in the latest fighting in the Gaza Strip on Sunday,
raising the Palestinian death toll in five days of bloodshed to
more than 100, including about 60 civilians, medics said.
Defying government curbs on street marches, thousands have
taken to the streets inside many of Jordan's squalid camps and
poor districts of the capital under the watchful eyes of the
authorities to show solidarity with their brethren.
Jordanian officials have been alarmed by Israel's military
offensive and worry it could derail US backed peace moves
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
They fear it broadens the popularity of the Islamist
movement among a majority of poor Jordanians, many of them
living in refugee camps and disenchanted with the US-led
Middle East peace process.
The demonstrators lambasted Arab rulers, accusing them of
complicity with Israel and standing idly by as ordinary Gazans
are killed.
"Shame on you, Shame on you rulers. You have betrayed your
people ... Open the borders and let us fight the Jews," youths
chanted.
- Reuters
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