Jordan bans 'Nakba' commemorations
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST May. 9, 2008
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Jordanian authorities have banned all events marking the "Nakba," or
Catastrophe, as Arabs refer to the creation of Israel 60 years ago.

Several pro-Palestinian groups and Jordanian opposition parties has been
planning to hold a rally in Amman on Friday.

But the authorities informed the organizers of the decision to ban the
event, as well as other "illegal public gatherings."

The Islamic Labor Front, which was planning a major rally in the capital,
condemned the ban as unconstitutional.

The party expressed outrage over the decision, noting that the Jordanian
government had allowed the Israeli Embassy in Amman to celebrate Israeli
Independence Day.

Earlier this year, Jordan banned relatives of Ala Abu Dhaim, the Palestinian
who killed eight students and wounded eight at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav
Yeshiva on March 6, from mourning him in public.

The relatives were warned against receiving mourners in a public place or
erecting a monument to commemorate the gunman, who was killed in the attack.

The family expressed outrage at the decision, pointing out that Israel had
allowed their relatives in Jerusalem's Jebl Mukaber neighborhood to hoist
Hizbullah and Hamas flags and to identify publicly with the gunman.