Pro-Palestine rallies continue in Jordan for 2nd day

AMMAN, Jordan

Hundreds of Jordanians turned out for rallies near the Palestine border for a second straight day on Saturday, denouncing Israel’s aggression and voicing support for Palestinians.

There was heavy security presence as demonstrators gathered in the compound of the al-Karama Martyrs Mosque in the Aghwar Janoobiyah district.

The crowd included many people wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, the checkered black and white scarf that has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause.

They raised slogans against the Israeli aggression and fervently voiced their support for Palestinians.

Mohammad al-Dhahrawy, head of the Palestine Committee in Jordan’s Parliament, also attended the rally.

“All of Jordan sympathizes with Palestine,” he said.

At least 139 people, including 39 children and 22 women, have been killed and 950 more injured since Israel started attacks on Gaza on May 10.

The airstrikes on Gaza were preceded by days of tensions and Israeli aggression in occupied East Jerusalem, where hundreds of Palestinians were assaulted by Israeli forces and settlers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Tensions spread from occupied East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara