General strike, demonstrations and calls for Jihad: Jordan denies expeling Israeli ambassador
Jordan-Israel, Politics, 4/2/2002

A high ranking Jordanian governmental official said on Monday that Jordan does not intend to expel the Israeli ambassador from its territories because the continuity of dialogue with Israel is useful for the Palestinians. The statement made by this Jordanian official came in reply to a question debated during his meeting with journalists on the usefulness of expelling the Israeli ambassador or severing relations with Israel.

The Jordanian official, who asked not to be identified said:" we consider the dialogue Jordan maintains with Israel as useful for the Palestinians and that our diplomacy was put in their service." He indicated that the medical aids dispatched from Jordan to the Palestinian authority will not reach them if we "sever relations with the Hebrew state." On the other hand a general strike was held amid demonstrations and calls for Jihad against Israel and boycotting the American products. Hundreds of thousands of Jordanians observed a strike called upon by the opposition and the trade union in Jordan.

The secretary general of the vocational trade unions Mahmoud Abu Ghaneima said that this is the first time in which the Jordanians are called for a strike for six hours from eight a.m. to 2 p.m. and this is the least we do with our Palestinian brothers.

In a statement, the Muslim brothers groups called on the government to take the measures already threatened to take against Israel, noting in this regard the " cancellation of the Wadi Araba agreement and all treaties and agreements with the Jewish enemy and to close the Jewish embassy." Meantime, the Arab agronomists union and the Amman's chamber of industry called for boycotting the Israeli products. They denounced any agreement with the Israeli industrialists.

However, official statistics indicate that trade exchange between the two countries increased at four folds since 1998 from 40 million Jordanian dinars ( USD 56 million) to 151 million dinars ( USD 212 million.) in 2001.

Previous Stories:
  Jordan warns Israel   (4/1/2002)
  Thousands Jordanian demand ending the peace treaty with Israel   (3/18/2002)
  Jordanian anti- normalization conference   (1/29/2002)

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