Jordanians hold anti-US protest

Jordanian protesters carry a national flag during an anti-government demonstration in Amman, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit on June 3, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/190286.html

Jordanian protesters have held an anti-US rally in the capital, criticizing Washington's interference in the country's reform movement.

Burning a US flag and chanting anti-US slogans, protesters on Friday accused the US of meddling in their government's policies and trying to direct and influence the protest movement in Jordan.

The anti-US protest rally was held in response to efforts by American diplomats to meet and advise anti-government activists and remarks made by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in praise of reform efforts by Jordan.

"We don't need Washington's help and we don't take orders from you," the Associated Press quoted activist Mohannad Safiin as saying.

"These are our protests. Keep out of our business. For years, the US government supported these same Arab regimes which have killed our own people," he added.

Demonstrators also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, whom the protesters hold responsible for the delay in adopting the promised economic and political reforms as well as failure to fight corruption.

They also called for freedom of press and condemned the government's "oppression" and "terrorizing" of the media a week after several journalists were beaten up by police as they tried to cover an anti-government sit-in in Amman.

Similar protest rallies were also held in several other cities.

Jordan's king has criticized the violence against journalists, saying that the government and police must allow journalists to cover political events and guarantee their safety. The government has promised to punish police officials involved in the attack.

Jordan has faced anti-government rallies demanding reforms and an end to corruption since January.

Last month, in a bid to appease protesters, King Abdullah II announced some concessions, including the formation of future governments that were based on an elected parliamentary majority rather than one appointed by the monarch.

He later said it may take two to three years to put an elected government in place.

Protesters urge Jordan PM ouster

Jordanian police clash with protesters after confiscating the eggs they were planning to throw at the Parliament building in Amman on June 30, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/187097.html

Thousands of people have demonstrated across Jordan to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and the dissolution of the lower house of parliament.

About 1,500 Jordanians took part in a demonstration outside Grand Husseini Mosque in central Amman after the Friday Prayers to express anger over the chamber's vote on Monday that cleared Bakhit of corruption charges in connection with a casino deal in 2007, DPA reported.

The protesters chanted “Down with Bakhit and his gambling government. A dishonest broker cannot protect the country."

“The casino government should go. No to the casino parliament,” read one of the banners carried by the demonstrators.

“This house should be dissolved because it provides a cover-up for corrupts," Murad Adayleh, a senior member of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's main opposition party, said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people demonstrated in Tafileh, situated 180 kilometers (111 miles) south of Amman, and called for the ouster of Bakhit's government.

Protest rallies were reported in the cities of Maan, Karak and Irbid, where participants demanded the “sacking of government and dissolution of parliament.”

On Monday, Jordan's lower house of parliament cleared Bakhit despite a parliamentary committee report which has found the premier's role in a suspected graft case about a multi-million-dollar deal that his government singed with a British-based company to build a casino in the Muslim state between 2005 and 2007.

At least three Jordanian lawmakers have resigned in protest to the parliament's decision.

Jordan king's motorcade attacked

In this photo released by the Jordanian Royal Palace, King Abdullah II (center top) greets people during his visit to Tafileh city, June 13, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184537.html

The motorcade of the Jordan king has been attacked while he was on an official tour in the southern city of Tafileh, a security official says.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the security official said King Abdullah II was unharmed in the Monday incident but 25 police officers were injured, one of them seriously.

"(The rear) part of King Abdullah II's motorcade was attacked with stones and empty bottles by a group of men in their 20s and 30s after the king's car entered Tafileh," the official said, adding that the motorcade changed its route following the attack.

The royal court and the Jordanian government, however, have denied the report that the monarch was the target of the violence in the southern town, saying angry young Jordanians attacked anti-riot police guarding the motorcade of King Abdullah II.

"It is absolutely groundless. Footage taken during the visit to Tafileh proves that," a court official told AFP.

"The motorcade of his majesty the king was not attacked and the visit to Tafileh was successful," government spokesman Taher Adwan told state-run Petra news agency.

"All that happened was a quarrel between police and people who wanted to greet the king," he added.

Some reports say that the violence came after Tafileh mayor barred young unemployed from a town meeting with the king and also because of the harsh treatment by anti-riot police, who beat them as they tried to line the sidewalk for the motorcade and present petitions to the king.

"Those who do not represent the people of Tafileh have been chosen to sit with the king. We have been marginalized in a provocative step that shows how security apparatuses control the people," said a group calling itself the "Freemen of Tafileh."

The attack came a day after King Abdullah II vowed to enhance political and economic reforms and promised a new electoral law leading to a parliamentary government in an attempt to end months of anti-government protest rallies in the country.

Tafileh, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the capital Amman, like other Jordanian cities, has been the scene of anti-government protests over the past months. Jordanians demand reforms, effective measures to fight corruption and the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and his cabinet.

Jordanians demand PM's resignation

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183074.html

Thousands of Jordanians have poured into the streets across the country, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit.

Protesters, who took to the streets following the Friday Prayers, accuse the government of failing to fight corruption and adopting political and economic reforms.

They also called for the dissolution of the lower house of parliament and condemned the interference of security forces in state affairs.

"We want to reform the regime in a way that people can rule themselves. Therefore, this requires comprehensive constitutional reforms that insures of an independent parliament and that a majority at the parliament would rule. We want a fair elections law that presents people's will”, Reuters quoted Hikmat Rawashdeh, a senior member of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) as saying.

"We want an end to meddling of security apparatus in state affairs and combating corruption and corrupts," he added.

Organizers say over 3,000 people took part in the protest rallies on Friday in seven Jordanian cities, including the capital, Amman.

Demands for reform have intensified since a convicted tycoon, who was serving a three-year prison term for bribery and corruption, fled the country.

Two Cabinet ministers resigned last week over Khaled Shaheen's disappearance from the country.

Jordanian protesters also gathered near the Israeli embassy in the capital and called for an end to Amman's ties with Tel Aviv and stressed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

"No to an Israeli embassy in an Arab land," the protesters chanted.

Meanwhile, dozens of journalists and activists demonstrated outside the premier's office in the capital to demand the release of the detained journalist, Alaa Fazzaa, who was arrested on charges of publishing an article on his website that Amman claims is harmful to the monarchy.

Cut ties with Israel, Jordanians say

Jordanian protesters burn Israeli flags and chant anti-Israeli slogans in Amman

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183092.html

Over 3,000 Jordanians have held a demonstration in Amman, demanding that the government cut its ties with Israel and close Tel Aviv's embassy in Amman.

Jordanian young people, parliamentarians, and trade unionists attended the demonstration, which was held near the Israeli embassy on Friday, and called on the government to abrogate Jordan's treaties with Israel, including the Camp David and Oslo Accords.

The protesters condemned the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and emphasized that Palestinian refugees in Jordan must have the right to return to their homeland.

They also burned Israeli flags and chanted “No Zionist embassy on Jordanian land,” “Palestinian and Jordanian, one people not two,” “From Amman to Al-Khalil (Hebron), we reject the alternative homeland scheme,” and “The people want to liberate Palestine.”

Young people from the May 15th Movement and the Coalition of the Third Palestinian Intifada Youth and youth members of a number of opposition political parties attended the demonstration, the Kuwait News Agency reported

Opposition parties also marched in the capital and other cities, calling on the government to tackle corruption and enact political and economic reforms.

The protesters also called for the resignation of Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit's government and the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, saying Bakhit has no intention to implement reforms.

'Jordan must cut ties with Israel'

Jordanian anti-government protesters shout slogans during a demonstration after Friday prayers in the capital Amman (file photo).

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182072.html

Protesters in Jordan have once again poured into the streets, calling on the Jordanian government to cut ties with Israel and demanded the fall of the government.

Furious over their country's peace treaty with Tel Aviv, hundreds of protesters burnt an Israeli flag after Friday prayers in Jordan's Tafileh province, AFP reported.

The demonstrators also slammed “racist and provocative” remarks by Israeli Knesset member Arye Eldad.

Last week, Eldad urged Jordanian King Abdullah II to set up a Palestinian state in his country instead of in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Jordan's 120-member Lower House also issued a statement on Thursday, condemning Eldad as a racist, provocative radical.

“We call on the government to take a firm position against these harmful statements to Jordan and its people,” the statement read.

It added that Jordan will never stop calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil with al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital.

Meanwhile, the protest group calling itself “The Youth of Tafileh” demanded the resignation of Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit's government and the dissolution of the Lower House of the parliament.

The group accused Bakhit of having no intention of implementing reforms in Jordan.

The protesters chanted slogans such as “We will not be silent and continue to expose corruption,” and “Destiny will help the people who want to survive.”

A similar rally was staged in the Jordanian city of Ma'an after Friday prayers.

Since January, Jordan has been facing a protest movement demanding political and economic reforms in the Middle Eastern country, and an end to corruption.

In response, King Abdullah was forced to dismiss his cabinet and Prime Minister Samir Zaid al-Rifai in February in an attempt to curb the spate of protests.

He then asked Marouf al-Bakhit, a former army general, to form a new cabinet as soon as possible.

Amidst intense calls for the limitation of his exclusive powers, the Jordanian monarch also created a commission on April 26, to propose constitutional reforms.

The series of concessions managed to quell the raging protests across the country to some extent.

However, analysts attribute the drop in the number of protests to a wait-and-see approach by pro-reform groups and a couple of violent incidents during the three-month-long demonstrations, which left at least two people killed and hundreds of others injured

Jordan, UN discuss Israeli settlements

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173482.html

Jordan says the continuous building of illegal settlements by Israel on occupied Palestinian lands is impeding efforts to resume talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Palestinian cause is the core to resolving all regional conflicts, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told US Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East David Hale in Amman on Wednesday, Jordan's Petra news agency reported.

Highlighting efforts to resume the long-stalled talks between the two sides, Judeh condemned Israel's unilateral, illegal and provocative measures in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

“Efforts must be undertaken to freeze these illegal construction activities immediately,” he said, highlighting Jordan's efforts to resume PA-Israeli talks.

The latest round of direct talks between Israeli and PA negotiators was derailed by Tel Aviv's refusal to extend a temporary, partial freeze on its West Bank settlement projects after the moratorium expired last September.

Judeh and Hale underlined the need for negotiations to tackle all final-status issues according to certain mechanisms and within a clear timetable to arrive at a comprehensive solution.

For his part, Hale briefed Judeh on the outcome of talks which US President Barack Obama is holding with all stakeholders to overcome obstacles, in addition to preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Middle East Quartet -- which comprises of Russia, European Union, the UN and the US -- in Berlin.

On Monday, Israeli authorities approved the construction of 942 new housing units in Gilo, a settlement neighborhood in Jerusalem's mostly Arab eastern sector.

The move was condemned by the United Nations on Tuesday, with the world body branding it as “illegal and contrary to the roadmap” adopted by the Middle East diplomatic Quartet.

'Draft resolution to go to UNSC in Jan.'

An Israeli settlement (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157971.html


Palestinians and Arabs will soon submit a draft resolution before the UN Security Council (UNSC) demanding a complete halt to all settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The draft resolution is due to come before the United Nations in January, when Bosnia takes the rotating presidency of the Security Council from the United States.

"We will go before the Security Council in the coming days to stop the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, especially East al-Quds (Jerusalem), capital of the future Palestinian state, which is a red line for all Palestinians and Arabs," said Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

"We will present a Palestinian and Arab resolution," he told AFP from Brazil, where he is accompanying Abbas on an official visit.

Direct talks between Israelis and the Palestinians, launched on September 2, broke down three weeks later after a 10-month Israeli moratorium on settlement building expired but Tel Aviv refused to renew it and continues the construction in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds.

It was on Dec. 15 that the Arab League announced it would seek a Security Council resolution against Israel, ordering a total freeze to Jewish settlements.

It also called on the United States, which has vetoed resolutions against Israel in the past, not to obstruct such a move.

The US has said that it will oppose any resolution brought before the UNSC that calls on Israel to end settlement activity in the West Bank.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said last week that the US continued to oppose Israeli settlement activity, but also opposed bringing the issue to the UNSC.

Israeli forces covering al-Aqsa Mosque

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138504§ionid=351020202


Israeli police have strengthened their presence in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) ahead of the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.

More than 2,000 policemen were deployed in and around the al-Aqsa Mosque to restrict the entry of Palestinian worshipers, who are expected to turn out in large numbers for the prayers.

A Press TV correspondent reported that the Israeli military limits the Palestinians every Ramadan to put pressure on them.

The police said in a statement that men aged between 15 and 50 need to have special permission to enter the holy city.

Israel has also set up extra checkpoints near the segregation wall in the occupied West Bank. It has generally kept East al-Quds off limits to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza for years.

Israeli restrictions in the last few years have led to confrontations between thousands of worshipers and Israeli forces.