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ISTANBUL — Islamic leaders on Wednesday urged the world to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned the United States no longer had any role to play in the peace process.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened in Istanbul an emergency summit of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), seeking a coordinated response to the recognition by US President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

With the Islamic world itself mired in division, the summit fell well short of agreeing any concrete sanctions against Israel or the United States.

But their final statement declared “East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine” and invited “all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital”.

They declared Trump’s decision “null and void legally” and “a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts” that would give impetus to “extremism and terrorism”.

 Jerusalem’s status is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel sees the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector, which the international community regards as annexed by Israel as the capital of their future state.

Erdogan — who regards himself a champion of the Palestinian cause — denounced Israel as a state defined by “occupation” and “terror”, in a new diatribe against the Israeli leadership.

“With this decision, Israel was rewarded for all the terrorist activities it has carried out. It is Trump who bestowed this award even,” said Erdogan, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the OIC.

He said all countries who “value international law and fairness” should recognise occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine,” saying Islamic countries would “never give up” on this demand.

‘No more role for US’ 

Using unusually strong language, Abbas warned that there could be “no peace or stability” in the Middle East until Jerusalem is recognised as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Moreover, he said that with Trump’s move the United States had withdrawn itself from a traditional role as the mediator in the search for Mideast peace.

“We do not accept any role of the United States in the political process from now on. Because it is completely biased towards Israel,” he said.

The final statement from the OIC echoed this sentiment, saying Trump’s move was “an announcement of the US administration’s withdrawal from its role as sponsor of peace” in the Middle East.

Abbas slammed the recognition by Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as a “gift” to the “Zionist movement” as if he “were giving away an American city”, adding that Washington no longer had any role to play in the Middle East peace process.

Trump’s announcement last week prompted an outpouring of anger in the Muslim and Arab world, where tens of thousands of people took to the streets to denounce Israel and show solidarity with the Palestinians.

The decision sparked protests in Palestinian territories, with four Palestinians killed so far in clashes or Israeli air strikes in response to rocket fire from Gaza and hundreds wounded.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday reiterated Jordan’s rejection of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as a “dangerous” move and a threat to peace. 

Addressing the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) emergency summit in Istanbul, Turkey, His Majesty said there is no alternative to Jerusalem as the key to ending the historical conflict in the Middle East.

He said extremists have exploited the bitter reality ensuing from the lack of justice to justify the violence and terrorism that threatens security and stability across the globe.

Following is the official translation of the speech: 

In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate,

Prayers and peace be upon the Arab Hashemite Prophet Mohammad, 

Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

We meet here today to confrontgrave challenges before the Muslim world and the dangerous threats to Jerusalem, where the hearts of all Muslims lie, and where our Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, ascended to heaven. A city holy to Christians as well. 

Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

First, the violence and extremism witnessed in the Arab world and beyond is the result of the absence of a just solution to the Palestinian cause, and the resulting feelings of injustice and frustration.

Extremists have exploited this bitter reality to justify the violence and terrorism that threaten security and stability across the globe.

Second, our region can never live in full peace without resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution, and in accordance with international terms of reference and the Arab Peace Initiative, leading to the establishment of the Palestinian state on Palestinian soil, with East Jerusalem as its capital. There is no alternative to Jerusalem as the key to ending this historical conflict.

Third, the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a dangerous decision, whose implications threaten security and stability. It undermines efforts to resume the peace process.

We have constantly warned of the danger of unilateral decisions on Jerusalem outside the framework of a comprehensive solution that fulfils all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to liberty and an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Moreover, attempts to Judaise Jerusalem and alter its Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity will unleash further violence and extremism; for the city is holy to the followers of the three monotheistic faiths.

Fourth, the Hashemite Custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem is a historical responsibility that Jordan is honoured to continue to uphold.

We will continue to counter any attempt to change the historical and legal status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, and you are Jordan’s firm supporters as it undertakes this responsibility. We must work as one to safeguard Islamic and Christian holy sites, and to prevent attempts to establish new facts on the ground.

Fifth, our Palestinian brothers deserve our utmost support to enable them to persevere and to continue working with the international community to reach a just and comprehensive solution that ends the historical injustice they have been living under, and achieves their right to statehood.

Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

We have agreed at the Arab summit in Jordan that the perilous challenges facing us call for collective action to safeguard our Arab and Muslim interests. We are urgently required to overcome our differences and unite our efforts to protect Jerusalem, and to safeguard our security and our peoples’ right to live in security and peace.

My friends,

Jerusalem is most holy in Islam.It is in the hearts of all Muslims… as it is in the hearts of all Christians. Our right, Muslims and Christians, to Jerusalem is eternal.

In closing, I thank my brother and friend, His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for graciously hosting this summit.

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

AMMAN — On the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Istanbul, His Majesty King Abdullah held separate talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Talks focussed on ways to address the repercussions of the US decision, a Royal Court statement said. 

During the two meetings, King Abdullah, who returned home later Wednesday, stressed the need for the international community and the US to honour their commitments to working for a comprehensive solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to ensure security and stability and establish the envisioned independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He also stressed that leaving the conflict without a solution would lead to further violence and extremism and undermine global security.

The King and the two premiers highlighted the importance of intensifying efforts and coordinating the stances of the Muslim countries to protect Jerusalem, its identity and Muslim and
Christian holy shrines.

King Abdullah said that Jerusalem is the key to peace, stability and security in the region, for its special significance for Muslims and Arabs, underscoring the importance of supporting the Palestinians to enable them to obtain their legitimate rights.

Prime Minister Hani Mulki, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and the King’s Office Director Jafar Hassan attended the meetings.

AMMAN — The Islamic Action Front Party on Wednesday denounced the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to refer Jordan to the UN Security Council for not arresting Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir when he visited Amman in March.

The party said that the decision targets Jordan's efforts related to the Jerusalem issue, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a statement, the party said that the court's "unfair decision" targets the Kingdom's “immense diplomatic efforts” to fight the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied holy city.  

The largest opposition party praised Jordan's stance on the issue and commended the grassroots movements and official unity in the face of Washington’s move.

AMMAN — The total number of tourists who visited Jordan between January and the end of November increased by 8.9 per cent compared with the same period of last year, Tourism Minister Lina Annab said on  Wednesday.

"The indicators of the tourism sector in the Kingdom have exceeded all expectations of the World Tourism Organisation [WTO] for the Middle East and North Africa," Annab told The Jordan Times.

The WTO's figures have indicated a 4 per cent drop in tourists' numbers in the region, but Jordan witnessed a hike instead, the minister said.

She emphasized that the increase is attributed to the major changes made by the ministry and other stakeholders to promote Jordan as a diverse destination, which helped to mitigate the impact of regional crises.

Annab said that "the number of tourists has begun to drop since 2010 as a result of the regional turmoil; however, the diversity in Jordanian destinations as a place for archaeological, religious, medical, adventure and conferences purposes has helped the Kingdom to address the drop".

During this period, the number of European tourists plummeted while tourists coming for religious and medical purposes have bridged the gap, according to the minister.

The number of overnight tourists until the end of November increased by 9.5 per cent, reaching 3.911 million visitors, compared to 3.574 during the same period of last year, the ministry's figures showed.

Meanwhile, the number of one-day visitors during the first 11 months of this year increased by 6.4 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2016, recording 910.363 visitors, compared to 855.235 last year, Annab noted.

The Tourism Minister expects that the figures will keep increasing next year, adding that that ministry will intensify its promotion campaigns to attract more tourists in cooperation with all stakeholders.

For his part, Jordan Tourism Board Director General Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat stressed that the Central Bank of Jordan's tourism indicators have shown improvement that reflects the efforts of the board in "placing Jordan on the world's tourism map" despite the regional turmoil and the economic challenges facing the Kingdom.

AMMAN — Tens of people on Wednesday held a protest next to the American embassy in Amman to denounce US President Donald Trump’s decisions to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to relocate its embassy to the holy city.

Amid heavy security presence, the demonstrators shouted slogans denouncing the US decisions and calling for the closure of the Israeli and American embassies in Amman, as well as the summoning of Jordanian ambassadors to the US and Israel.

“Resistance is not terrorism. Resistance is the solution,” shouted the men and women standing near the US embassy in Abdoun in western Amman, while waving Jordanian, Palestinian and Muslim Brotherhood flags.

The demonstrators also shouted: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine”, “America is the root of terrorism in the world” and “the road to Jerusalem starts with millions of martyrs”, while other slogans called for annuling the Jordanian-Israeli 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty.

Leading the demonstrations, Islamist deputy Abdul Majid Al Aqtash said: “The fate of Jerusalem is the fate of the entire human race.”

“What is happening now is a coalition of Zionist-Western-crusaders that is attempting to eliminate the Arabs and Muslims.  Jerusalem is not subject to any form of negotiation,” Aqtash told The Jordan Times.

He stressed that “the fate of Jerusalem is in the hands of the Arab people. The governments are not serious enough so people of the Arab nations should unite during this difficult time”.

Aqtash said the Jordanian Parliament has done part of its role by examining the Wadi Araba Peace Treaty, but more needs to be done.

The Lower House of Parliament on Sunday tasked its legal committee to revise the Wadi Araba Peace Treaty in reaction to the US’ announcement last Wednesday.

The committee is tasked with examining all Israeli violations against its commitments under the deal, and with compiling a detailed report to be forwarded to relevant Arab and international organisations.

Islamist Deputy Dima Tahboub (Amman 3rd District) said: “Trump’s decision is an aggressive act against all Arabs and Muslims.”

“The legal committee at Parliament is currently examining the Wadi Araba Peace Treaty and we hope we will manage to annul it,” Tahboub told The Jordan Times.

She added that the announcement by President Trump erases the “entire peace process and is a clear bias towards the Zionist state”.

Meanwhile, the US embassy on Wednesday issued several warnings, urging its citizens to “maintain a low profile and stay away from demonstration areas”. 

“US citizens should remain aware of the possibility of protests, some of which have the potential to become violent. The US embassy reminds its citizens of the need for caution and awareness of personal security,” a US embassy statement said.

AMMAN — Hundreds of Jordanians took part in a candlelight vigil in Amman on Wednesday in protest of US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and to recognise it as the capital of Israel. 

Holding candles, participants marched in silence in west Amman’s Sweifieh neighbourhood towards St Mary of Nazareth Church. 

Churches bells rang as they gathered outside the church. 

Father Rifat Bader, the director of the Catholic Centre for Studies, said “Jerusalem is calling on people to stand with it,” adding that Christians and Muslims stand in unity to face any act that endangers the holy city.  

“The US decision is unjust and negatively affected Jerusalem and its history, but we as Christians and Muslims will bring back its beauty through this peaceful demonstration,” he told The Jordan Times outside the church. 

Reem Arida, one of the participants, said she took part in the vigil to affirm that Jerusalem is an Arab City. 

“This is a fact I know since I was a child.  Jerusalem is for all Arabs and these candles are symbols of peace and love,” she told The Jordan Times. 

Nimaat Hajjara, another participant, said she joined the march to emphasise unity. 

“All people from different backgrounds should come out and stand hand-in-hand,” she said while walking. 

Nisreen Mdanat did not fully support the idea of a “silent parade”. 

“We have to chant and let people listen to our voices. Maybe a silent parade won’t effectively send our message,” she added.  

AMMAN — After she attended a course called “My Story with Autism” organised on Wednesday by the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children, Um Issa, a mother of a 10-year-old autistic child said “a mother has to be her own child’s school.”

“The course was entertaining and very helpful. Although I have taken several courses on the subject, I realised I didn’t know the difference between different disorders,” she said following the event. 

Um Issa said she found out that her son is autistic when he was two years old, after he stopped talking completely.

“He is now in fourth grade and I’m his ‘shadow teacher’. Other students love him because he is not violent or harmful, but I would like for him to make at least one friend. That would make me feel relieved,” she told The Jordan Times.

Um Issa highlighted the changes in her son’s behaviour after he enrolled in the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children, changes that she said “anyone can notice”.

Nadine Chour, director of the society, said that since its establishment three years ago, the society has been training mothers of autistic children, helping them to become specialists in dealing with the developmental disorder. 

She stressed the importance of supporting and educating the mother, who has an active role in solving the problems of families who have children with autism, by helping them to support their children from an early age so as to help them develop into productive youth capable of reaching self-independency. 

“This course is one of dozens or courses that the society has organised for the mothers in order to raise awareness and education in this field,” Chour noted, voicing her hope to organise more courses with experts in the field in the next year.

Hanan Mohammad said that her son Amer, whom she enrolled in the society as soon as it was established, used to be “very quiet and secluded”.

“Amer has changed a lot since he started here. He improved a lot with the help of specialised trainers, who also help parents to be more cautious and educated when it comes to dealing with their children,” she noted.

Mohammad said she believes her son improved by more than 70 per cent, with only the issue of pronunciation remaining now.

“The problem we face as mothers of autistic children is that public schools don’t accept our children,” she noted.

Najah Fouad, technical director at the society, served as the moderator for Wednesday’s course, which aimed at raising awareness among mothers of the difference between autism and other disorders.

“What I wanted is for them to know which category each of their children belongs to, so we can work on curing them in specific ways,” Fouad stated.

The society’s eight employees support over 27 children, with a special focus on children whose families are from middle and lower income backgrounds.

AMMAN — Participants in a regional meeting, organised by the Education Ministry and the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF), in cooperation with the World Bank (WB), on Wednesday, stressed that education in the Arab world is facing similar challenges.

The two-day meetings aim at discussing the World Development Report 2018, which is the “first ever report” by the WB entirely devoted to education, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The report, titled: “Learning to Realise Education’s Promise”, focused on the Middle East and North Africa region.

Participants in the meetings said that it is time to change the educational system in the Arab world to cope with the latest developments and meet the needs of Arab children.

Education Minister Omar Razzaz said that education ministries cannot face challenges alone and need partners to address the sector’s obstacles that include enhancing the students’ feelings of loyalty towards their schools and countries, reducing differences in educational outcomes to achieve social justice and equal opportunities in education. 

Solutions to such challenges, the minister said, include having a system that coordinates the roles of teachers, curricula and technologies with the role of the students.

Vice President of the WB for Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem highlighted the importance of education in realising progress, security and stability in the region, adding that focusing on the quality of education will lead to improving the youth’s skills and qualify them to better jobs.

QRF CEO Haifa Attia stressed the need to offer quality education to all children, highlighting the importance of having an educational system that enhances learning, diversity and creativity, so as to ensure the success of future generations.  

AMMAN — The Ministry of Labour is considering enacting the necessary legislation to include all workers in the agricultural field under the provisions of the law to encourage Jordanians to engage in the sector, Labour Ministry Spokesperson Haitham Khasawneh has told The Jordan Times. 

The remarks came as a response to the demands made by several workers in the field during a seminar titled “Working Conditions of Women in the Agricultural Sector” held at the Tamkeen Centre for Legal Aid and Human Rights on December 6.

During the event, participants called on the Ministry of Labour to establish a system to regulate the work in the agricultural sector and to guarantee the rights of both workers and employers, noting that the lack of such arrangement has contributed to several violations faced by both sides. 

In this regard, Khasawneh pointed out that a system of categories for the agricultural workers subject to the provisions of the Labour Law was promulgated and came into effect as of the date of its publication in the Official Gazette on December 7, 2003.

“Although seasonal workers are not included in the Labor Law, the ministry works to preserve the rights of all agricultural workers by reviewing the complaints submitted to labour inspectors, and guiding the workers through the legal methods that enable them to obtain their rights through resorting to magistrate courts,” Khasawneh continued. 

The attendees at the seminar also recommended that detailed data on the number of workers in the sector shall be provided to assist in the development of agricultural plans, programmes and policies. 

“The Department of Statistics, as the official concerned body, provides statistical information and data in general,” Khasawneh said, noting that “as for employment in the agricultural sector, they also provide surveys and censuses that are carried out during different periods of time”.

Regarding the situation of female employees in the field, the participants at the seminar concluded that women face more violations in the workplace than their male counterparts, suffering from a lower wage and a lack of health conditions and proper transportation, with many of them being engaged in the informal sector. 

In this regard, Khasawneh noted that the minimum wage of JOD220 is applied to all workers without exception.

“The ministry encourages the transfer of workers from the informal sector to the formal sector, since most workers in the agricultural sector work in an irregular manner,” he added, noting that “companies and farms under the provisions of the law are obliged to provide full social protection and appropriate working conditions.”