Jordan Times
Monday, January 5, 2008
King demands decisive
stand from Security Council
By Khetam Malkawi
AMMAN - His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday called on the Security Council to
issue an immediate binding decision to stop the Israeli aggression in the Gaza
Strip, open the border crossings and end the humanitarian crisis in the coastal
enclave.
At a meeting of the National Policies Council, King Abdullah said Jordan will
deploy all possible means to hammer out an international stand to pressure
Israel into ending “its aggression on innocent people in the Gaza Strip” and
highlight the destructive impact of the offensive on the entire region.
The King told the meeting that Jordan will continue to exert all possible
efforts to bring about an end to the onslaught, a Royal Court statement said
Sunday.
Jordan supports the Palestinians with all its capabilities in standing up to the
aggression and its consequences, the King reaffirmed at the meeting, attended by
Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, Senate Speaker Zeid Rifai and Lower House Speaker
Abdul Hadi Majali along with senior officials.
He said all Jordanians are “extremely angry” with the Israeli aggression and are
expressing their anger through taking all possible and required steps to stop
the attack.
The Monarch expressed pride in the “high patriotic sense” that Jordanians showed
in expressing their rejection of the Israeli offensive and showing solidarity
with the Palestinian people.
As the closest country to Palestine, Jordan will always do its utmost to help
and support the “Palestinian brothers”, the King emphasised, noting that
aggression will not bring security to Israel. Israel can only enjoy stability
once the Palestinians do so, and once their legitimate rights are secured,
mainly the right to establish an independent state on their national soil, he
stressed.
King Abdullah also warned of the repercussions of the onslaught on the entire
region and efforts to reach a permanent peaceful settlement to the deacades-old
conflict based on the two-state solution, which received the blessing of the
whole world.
Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Dahabi told lawmakers that the government was
considering all the available options and procedures to evaluate the Kingdom’s
ties with any country, particularly Israel, if it was necessary to serve the
country’s higher interests.
In his reply to House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali’s query on the government action
on a recent statement by MPs, Dahabi said that the government, upon directives
by His Majesty King Abdullah, is dealing with all aspects of the situation in
Gaza in light of higher national interests and Jordan’s constant stand in
support of the Palestinian cause.
At the opening of the three-hour meeting, Majali requested that the government
brief the House on procedures taken in response to the House statement issued
last Sunday condemning the Israeli offensive on Gaza.
The statement said that if Israel “continues its unjust offensive and
continuously refuses to lift the blockade on the brotherly people of Palestine
and the Gaza Strip, the House will call on the government to reconsider
Jordanian-Israeli ties. This includes recalling Jordan's ambassador to Israel
and requesting Israel's ambassador in Amman to leave the Kingdom".
Majali said at the meeting that deputies should shoulder their responsibilities
as Jordanians continue expressing their feelings and support for people of the
Gaza Strip “in a civilised manner”.
“We, the deputies, have to go back to our constituencies and help in organising
the civilised expression [of anger], away from outbidding or allowing certain
people to sabotage this great nationwide effort and take it off course,” Majali
said at the opening of yesterday’s session, in reference to individuals who have
tried to turn peaceful rallies into riots.
Thirty-one deputies took the podium in the part of the session designated for
unscheduled issues with the majority of speakers focusing on the atrocities in
Gaza and the need to ensure that public rallies held in Jordan do not deviate
from civil expression of pro-Gaza sentiments.
They stressed the need to preserve national unity, especially under such
critical circumstances.
A memorandum signed by some 30 deputies yesterday called on the government to
release Ahmad Daqamseh who is serving a prison sentence for killing seven
Israeli schoolgirls in northern Jordan in 1997.
MPs also started discussions on the 2008 Livestock Protection Fund draft law,
and referred several laws to the concerned committees for further consideration.
These laws include the 2008 Investment Promotion Law, the Jordan Industrial
Estates Corporation Law, the Higher Council for Traffic Safety Law, a draft law
on human trafficking, in addition to amendments to the Jordan Economic Projects
Development Corporation Law.