DEMONSTRANS CALL FOR EXPULSION OF ISRAELI AMBASSADOR IN AMMAN
Amman, 15 Jumadil Awwal 1435/16 March 2014 (MINA) – Hundreds of Jordanians demonstrated after Friday prayers near the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital of Amman, condemning the killing of a Palestinian-Jordanian man by Israeli soldiers earlier in the week.
Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad reported that the demonstrations were organized by leftist, Islamist, nationalist, and youth parties, and protesters called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the cancellation of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, which was signed in 1994.
The killing of Palestinian-Jordanian judge Raed Zeiter by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge crossing on Monday came as part of a wave of killings of seven Palestinians by Israeli forces over a period of about 24-hours earlier this week. Maan News Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
The shooting sparked the fury of both Jordan and the Palestinians, with protesters in Amman immediately following the killing demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the abrogation of the two countries’ 1994 peace treaty.
The statement said Israel had shared the results of a preliminary inquiry with Amman, and had “agreed to a Jordanian request to establish a joint Israeli-Jordanian team to complete the investigation.”
A preliminary investigation by the army published on Tuesday claimed that Zeiter had repeatedly attacked soldiers prompting troops to open shoot him dead.
Witness at the scene Mohammad Zayd, however, disputed the Israeli army’s claims, and said that an Israeli soldier had pushed Zeiter when he delayed in returning to the bus he was traveling on after it was stopped for inspection.
When Zeiter fought back, the soldier shot him three times in the chest, Zayd added.
Zeiter was buried in his home city of Nablus in the northern West Bank earlier on Tuesday, with Jordan calling for the Israeli soldiers who shot him to be punished.(T/P04/P03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
