Amman, Islamic extremists take to streets against Trump's "peace plan" for the Middle East

Hundreds of people marched through the streets of the capital, chanting slogans and songs.  Event organised by local political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Manama Conference and the "normalization" of relations with Israel are being targeted.  The Jordanian government will participate to demand a political, non-economic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Amman (AsiaNews) - Hundreds of Islamic extremists in Jordan marched through the streets of the capital, Amman, yesterday afternoon to protest against Trump's "peace plan" for the Middle East, which analysts and experts say "will not solve the Palestinian problem  ".  The militants attacked the American project, which will be presented on 25 and 26 June during the Manama conference, and asked the government to boycott the meeting in Bahrain.

Protesters began their protest march from the Husseini mosque, one of the most important in the country and located in the center of Amman, at the end of Friday prayers.  Leading the march were, among others, prominent figures of local Islamic extremist movements who chanted slogans against the US president.

"O Trump, O Trump - they shouted - go away.  Jordan is steadfast and will never kneel ".

The much-vaunted "agreement of the century" of the White House, which has taken two years to devise, touches a nerve in the Hashemite kingdom, where along with the native population millions of refugees of Palestinian origin live, now absorbed into the local social fabric.  The suspicion is that he wants to favor the Israeli counterpart, relegating to the margins - if not forgetting - the rights of the Palestinians who would end up burdening Jordan and other nations in the region.

The protesters chanted slogans against "a normalization" of relations with Israel and repeatedly shouted "down with the Bahrain conference", with a mix of songs typical of Islamic extremists, seasoned with anti-Western rhetoric.  Some demonstrators brandished signs that attacked "the jobs in Bahrain" under the eyes of hundreds of policemen in riot gear, ready to intervene in the event of violence.

“We have come to say in one voice that as Jordanians we reject the Bahrain workshop. It is shame on those who participate,” said Murad al Adaylah, the head of the Islamic Action Front,(IAF) the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group.

The Amman government confirmed its presence at the Manama Conference to study the economic aspect of Trump's plan.  At the same time, it will send a message that no cash offer can replace a political solution that ends the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.