Jordanian Islamists burn Israeli flag, protest Kerry deal
Hours before King Abdullah's meeting with Obama in US, demonstrators in Amman urge end to Israel-Jordan peace treaty
AMMAN, Jordan — Hours before Jordan’s king was to meet with US President Barack Obama in California, his Islamist opposition at home staged its largest protest in months to reject a peace deal as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 1,200 protesters affiliated with Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood also burned the Israeli flag.
Although Jordan maintains cordial ties with Israel under a 1994 peace treaty, many Jordanians are skeptical of their neighbor’s intentions. Roughly half of Jordan’s population traces its roots to Palestinians displaced in Arab-Israeli wars.
Jordan’s Brotherhood calls for Israel’s annihilation through armed struggle.
The protesters also demanded of Jordan’s King Abdullah II to “revoke the peace treaty with the Zionists.”
Abdullah’s Friday meeting with Obama will focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace, the war in Syria and increased US aid to cash-strapped Jordan.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.