Jordanians rally to support prisoners
Dozens of relatives and friends of Jordanian prisoners held in Israeli jails have staged a sit-in outside UN headquarters in the Jordanian capital to press for their release.
The protesters on Monday carried portraits of the prisoners and placards saying: “We are the prisoners, not you,” and “We are fed up”.
Islamist MP Azzam Hunaidi joined the protest and told reporters: “We urge the government to put pressure on Israel to guarantee the release of the prisoners”.
Government spokeswoman Asma Khudr meanwhile told a weekly press conference the government was following up the prisoners’ issue “at the highest level of responsibility”.
Government responsibility
“We are responsible for our citizens. We are following up the
issue at the highest level of responsibility,” Khudr said.
“It is our case and we will not give it up to anybody,” she added. According to Jordan about 70 Jordanian citizens are held in Israeli jails.
Several protests have been held in Jordan since last week when Palestinian and Jordanian prisoners in Israel began a hunger strike to demand better conditions.