Jordan Times
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Candlelight vigil protests separation wall
AMMAN, February 22 (JT) - Jordanians took part in a candlelight vigil to show solidarity with Palestinians under occupation in Amman on Saturday. Around 1500-2000 Jordanians gathered yesterday at the Shmeisani Street of Culture at 6:00pm to protest Israel's building of the separation barrier that snakes into Palestinian lands.
The protest, organized by the Palestinian anti-apartheid wall campaign and the Jordanian Workers Communist Party, is part of the “Stop the Wall” campaign.
“[The sit-in] is an attempt to raise greater global awareness, and to highlight the importance of the case,” said Mary Nazzal, the campaign representative in the Kingdom. February 21-23 marks worldwide solidarity with the Palestinians' call for justice against the barrier, she added.
During the march, a popular hearing was presented by Palestinians and members of Dutch solidarity groups in various cities worldwide detailing the illegality of the wall, which will cause irreversible damage and destroy the lives and heritage of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Meanwhile, solidarity groups held demonstrations in cities across Europe and the US, “ensuring greater exposure for the issue and to make clear to their governments, popular opposition to the wall,” according to event organizers.
“We [the organizers] are attempting to mobilize greater worldwide opposition to Israel's escalating assaults on the Palestinian people by the building of the wall,” said Nazzal.
“The popular hearing seeks to raise greater awareness and provide a voice for communities devastated by the wall's existence,” said Nazzal.
In 2002, an Israeli military order was issued calling for the construction of what was described as a “security barrier” north of Jerusalem and inside the West Bank, as part of the next stage of its expansionist and repressive policy.
This decision was based on the emergency martial law of 1949 and the implementation was given to the Israeli ministry of “defense.”