Jordanians protest rededication of synagogue near al-Aqsa mosque

Mar 16, 2010, 16:48 GMT

Amman - Jordanians staged demonstrations on Tuesday to protest the rededication of synagogue near al-Aqsa Mosque at the Temple Mount-Haram Shaif compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

Hundreds of trade union members, leaders of political parties and politicians staged a sit-in at the Trade Unions Complex.

They chanted slogans and raised placards urging the government to sever political ties with Israel and 'abrogate' the peace treaty which the Hashemite Kingdom concluded with Israel in 1994.

Hundreds of students also staged a demonstration at the campus of the University of Jordan urging an effective reaction from Arab countries to the 'judaizing' of the holy city.

Police prevented the demonstration from leaving the university's gate and confined it to the campus.

The Jordanian government also condemned the rebuilding of the Hurva synagogue about 50 metres from al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine, as a 'violation' of international law.

'Jordan categorically rejects the redeication of Hurva synagogue and all other unilateral Israeli measures in occupied East Jeruslaem because they run counter to international legitimacy,' Minister of State for Media Affairs Nabil Sharif was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency.

Under the Jordanian-Israeli peace pact, the Jewish state recognised Amman's right to look after both the Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem.