The scene of the massacre at a Jerusalem synagogue.
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Jordanian parliament honors Jerusalem terrorists
Despite Amman's official condemnation of synagogue attack, Jordanian parliament recites prayer to commemorate terrorists behind massacre of five Israelis in Jerusalem.
A day after the massacre of five Israelis at a Jerusalem synagogue, the Jordanian parliament agreed to a request on Wednesday by MP Khaled Hussein al-Atta to read a prayer from the Quran in memory of the two terrorists, Rassan and Uday Abu-Jamal.
Al-Atta first raised the notion to recite a prayer for the two terrorists killed in the Jerusalem attack during the Jordanian parliament's morning session on his Facebook page Wednesday, after which the parliament approved the request.
The Jordanian parliament.
"This is a natural response to the Zionist occupation against our people in Palestine," wrote Al-Atta on his Facebook page.
According to the Jordanian newspaper al-Rai, MP Mohammed al-Ktatsh also asked the parliament to issue a statement condemning what he called a "Zionist attack against Jerusalem and its inhabitants after the heroic operation carried out in Jerusalem."
The Jordanian parliament has been known to have shown a lack of sympathy for Israel and its inhabitants and its parliament members tend to speak strongly against Jordan-Israel relations and the peace deal between the two countries.
The prayer memorializing the terrorists came after Jordan's government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani official condemned the attack and said, "Jordan condemns an attack on any citizen and condemns all acts of violence and terrorism that hurt civilians, whatever their origin."
Al-Momani noted that the Jordanian government has been following the consequences of the serious situation in Jerusalem and called for restraint and calm, according to reports by the Petra News Agency.
Al-Momani did not directly speak of the terrorist attack in Jerusalem in his statements.
Along with the condemnation, Al-Momani emphasized that Israel must stop all unilateral steps and repeated attacks on the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa mosque – a sentence repeated several times in the statements made by Jordanian officials in the last weeks regarding the rising tensions in Jerusalem.
The rising friction in Jerusalem led to a diplomatic crisis with the Hashemite Kingdom and the tripartite summit between King Abdullah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US Secretary of State John Kerry that took place last week in Amman in an attempt to control the deteriorating situation.
Jordan was one of the only countries in the Arab and Muslim world to officially condemn the Jerusalem terror attack along with Bahrain.
Along with Jordan, Bahrain was one of the only Arab countries to public condemn the Jerusalem synagogue massacre.
Bahrain's foreign minister wrote on his twitter account: "Those who will pay for the murder of innocent people at a Jewish synagogue and the consequences of the crime is only the Palestinian people, who will be collectively punished and suffer more injustice and aggression."
Turkey's foreign minister also condemned the attack at the Jerusalem synagogue and said, "We cannot accept attacked against holy places of any religion," but also criticized Israel's conduct at al-Aqsa mosque.
The Palestinian Authority also condemned the attack on Tuesday a few hours after the massacre took place.
However, in a public address to the nation, Prime Minister Netanyahu said the condemnation was "not enough" and blamed the attack on incitement by Hamas and Abbas.
