JORDAN-MUSLIM/CHRISTIAN PEACE MARCH Jordanian Muslims, Christians march for peace in region

Record ID: 349962

  • Title: JORDAN-MUSLIM/CHRISTIAN PEACE MARCH Jordanian Muslims, Christians march for peace in region
  • Date: 24th August 2014
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (AUGUST 23, 2014) (REUTERS) 'COEXISTENCE' MARCH BY JORDANIAN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS TO CALL FOR PEACE IN REGION / SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS IN BACKGROUND PROTESTER FLASHING 'PEACE' HAND GESTURE, OTHERS HOLDING PLACARDS READING (Arabic): "MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS TOGETHER" / SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS IN BACKGROUND PLACARD READING (Arabic): "MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS TOGETH
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9A4JY5NO02F342O4KWJYQQMRF
  • Story Text: Jordanian Muslims and Christians marched through the capital Amman on Saturday (August 23) to condemn violence across the region and call for peace and unity.
    Tens of Muslims and Christians held banners that read 'Muslims and Christians Together' as they walked from Amman's Abdali area to the Jabal Luweibdeh district.
    Church bells and the Muslim call for prayer were heard in unison as people took to the streets - a symbolic show of unity for the march, which took place under the banner of 'Coexistence'.
    Sheikh Hamdi Murad, founder of Jordan's Interfaith Coexistence Research Centre (JICRC), called for people in the region to reject violence.
    "It's an announcement and call for the entire region that the conspiracy being designed against the region these days, which is based on a fierce conflict, particularly a religious one - and Islam, Christianity, Islam against Islam and Sunni against Shi'ite - this is all part of a conspiracy against the region. We say that people must wake up and for those who want to live peacefully, they must condemn all forms of violence and terrorism," Murad said.
    The centre was established in 2003 to promote interfaith tolerance and provides assistance to governments and NGOs on peace building across different religious beliefs.
    Odeh Qawwas, a former member of Jordan's parliament, also took part in the march. He said the actions of Islamic State militants were not representative of genuine Islam and that people around the world could hold similar fundamental beliefs.
    "The importance of our message is what is going on around us, either in Gaza and the injustice being committed against it or what is happening in Arab countries, which is unfortunately taking place in the name of Islam, but this is not true Islam. This is Daesh's form of Islam, be it Sunni, Shi'ite, Christian, or American. Daesh is not just in Iraq, it is representative of all fundamentalists and all terrorists," he said.
    'Daesh' is the Arabic acronym for the group's previous name, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and is mainly used as a term by people who oppose the hardline Sunni group.
    Saturday's march was part of a series of activities in Amman organised in opposition to violence in the wider region.
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