Channels

Photo: Reuters
Mohammed Jawawdeh's funeral
Photo: Reuters

Jordan mourners chant 'death to Israel' after embassy shooting

During funeral of Mohammed Jawawdeh, who was shot to death after attacking an Israeli security guard with a screwdriver, mourners vow 'We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions'; attacker's uncle calls on King Abdullah to average the death.

Thousands of Jordanians chanted "Death to Israel" on Tuesday as they attended the funeral of a teenager shot dead by an Israeli embassy security guard.

 

 

Mohammed Jawawdeh, 17, was killed on Sunday after he assaulted the guard with a screwdriver at the embassy compound in Amman. A second Jordanian was also killed, apparently by accident, and will be buried on Thursday.

 

The killings sparked a standoff between Israel and Jordan amid tensions over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where Israel imposed new security measures after a deadly mid-July attack on police.

 

Photo: Reuters (Photo: Reuters)
Photo: Reuters

 

Mourners on Tuesday accompanied Jawawdeh's coffin from Wihdat city, home to a large Palestinian refugee camp east of Amman, towards the cemetery in nearby Umm al-Hiran where he was buried.

 

They carried pictures of the teenager along with Palestinian and Jordanian flags.

 

In addition to cries of "Death to Israel," they also chanted: "We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions."

 

Jawawdeh's uncle, Sami, said the family is urging Jordan's King Abdullah II to avenge his death "because he is the one who can decide in such matters."

 

"Mohammed's blood did not flow in vain," he added, saying it paved the way for Israel's removal early Tuesday of metal detectors at entrances to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

 

Israel had installed the devices following a July 14 attack nearby that killed two policemen.

 

Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

 

The move, seen by Palestinians as an attempt to assert Israeli control over the site, triggered Muslim outrage and deadly violence.

 

Jordan is the official custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

 

King Abdullah spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Monday and urged him to remove the metal detectors.

 

Thousands of Jordanians had demonstrated against Israel in Amman and other cities, calling for "resistance" to "Zionist attacks" and demanding to close the Israeli embassy in Amman  and scrap the unpopular 1994 peace treaty.

 

Dozens of demonstrators chanted "No to an Israeli embassy or ambassador on Jordanian land" and called for a jihad (holy struggle).

 

Also on Monday, the security guard and other diplomats returned home after Amman investigators heard "his account of the incident" at the Israeli embassy compound, a Jordanian government source said.

 

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a news conference on Tuesday that Jordan did not strike "deals" or hold "negotiations" with Israel over the shooting.

 

Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

 

He said the government had been intent on questioning the Israeli guard before allowing him to leave the country, "and despite his diplomatic immunity we were able to reach an agreement to take his deposition."

 

Jordan will pursue the investigation until "the truth is reached and justice is done," said Safadi, who was flanked at the news conference by the government spokesman and the state minister for legal affairs.

 

Meanwhile, riot police deployed on Tuesday morning around the Israeli embassy in a residential neighborhood of western Amman after activists called online for an anti-Israel demonstration.

 

Some activists wanted a protest on Tuesday, but others said it should take place after the weekly midday prayers on Friday.

 

Reuters contributed to this report.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.25.17, 19:41
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment