Jordanians chant ‘death to Israel’

AMMAN: Thousands of Jordanians chanted “death to Israel” as they attended the funeral on Tuesday of a teenager shot dead by an Israeli embassy security guard.

Mohammed Jawawdeh, 17, was killed on Sunday after he assaulted the guard with a screwdriver at the embassy compound, according to Israeli officials. A second Jordanian was also killed, apparently by accident, and will be buried on Thursday.

The killings sparked a standoff between Israel and Jordan amid tensions over a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site where Israel imposed new security measures after a deadly mid-July attack on police.

Mourners set off with Jawawdeh’s coffin from Wihdat city, home to a large Palestinian refugee camp east of Amman, towards the cemetery in nearby Umm al-Hiran, where he was buried. They carried pictures of the 17-year-old along with Palestinian and Jordanian flags, and chanted “Death to Israel". “We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions," they chanted. Jawawdeh’s uncle, Sami, said the family is urging Jordan’s King Abdullah II to avenge his death “because he is the one who can decide in such matters".