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Jordan's anti-normalization body calls for annulling peace treaty with Israel

Arab-Israel Relations Materials 31 January 2010 23:54 (UTC +04:00)

A top anti-normalization Jordanian committee, grouping opposition parties and professional associations, called on the Jordanian government on Sunday to scrap the peace treaty with Israel, Xinhua reported.
   "We urge the Jordanian government and other Arab states that signed peace treaties with the Zionist enemy (Israel) to abolish these treaties as they are considered a declaration of surrender and the public were not consulted about these treaties," Jordan's Higher Executive Committee for Defending the Homeland and Confronting Normalization said in a statement posted Sunday on the website of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood.
   Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Jordan signed the Wadi Araba Peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
   In its statement, the committee called for cutting all types of normalization with Israel, saying "normalization gives legitimacy to the Zionist entity that was created based on usurping the lands. "
   The committee said resisting normalization with Israel is a right and a duty on all Arabs and Muslims, slamming the government for proceeding with "encouraging" normalization with Israel at the political, economic, cultural and educational levels.
   The committee called on the Arabs and Muslims to boycott Israel, urging holding an annual meeting at the Arab level to activate the boycott of Israel.
   The committee also demanded intensifying efforts to end the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and condemned Egypt's construction of a steel wall along the borders with the coastal enclave aimed at preventing smuggling activities of Gazans.
   Referring to the rift between the Palestinian factions, the committee called for unity among all Palestinians to stand up to challenges that face them.
   In 2006, tensions started between major rival factions, Fatah and Hamas, after the latter won the legislative election. The situation escalated between the two sides leading to strong clashes when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Since then, there has been repeated calls on the two sides for reconciliation and unity.
   Jordan's opposition parties and professional associations are strong advocates of cutting ties with Israel and have repeatedly called for abolishing the Wadi Araba peace treaty.

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