Amman - The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's biggest political party, on Saturday urged the government to reject unequivocally US President George W Bush's remarks referring to Israel as a Jewish state. "We are awaiting a clear Jordanian official attitude that rejects Israel as a Jewish state and sticks to the Palestinian people's right to an independent and a fully sovereign state as well as to the right of refugees" to return to their homes, the IAF official spokesman Rhayyel Gharaibeh said in a statement.
During his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories earlier this week, Bush advocated Israel as homeland for the Jewish people, a remark seemingly excluding the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes they were forced to quit upon Israel's foundation in 1948.
The UN General Assembly resolution 194 provided for the return of Palestinians to their homes or compensating those who choose not to return.
"Bush's hostile statement represents one of the stages of the liquidation of the Palestinian question, the offshoots of which will affect the rights of the Palestinian and Jordanian peoples as well as neighbouring Arab countries," Gharaibeh said.
"The recognition of the Jewish nature of Israel heralds a new aggression as well as a new chapter of the conspiracy against Arab rights," he added.
Jordan lost the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. The Amman government concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, but the Hashemite Kingdom continues to be a home for about 1.5 Palestinian refugees who enjoy full Jordanian nationality.
