Speaker of Jordan’s lower house holds talks with Kuwaiti and UN envoys

Ahmed Safadi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, on Wednesday met the Kuwaiti ambassador to Jordan, Hamad Rashid Al-Marri, to discuss relations between the nations’ parliaments.

Safadi offered his condolences to Kuwait and its people for the death in December of the country’s emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

He and Al-Marri emphasized the need for cooperative communication and consultation to best serve the common interests of their countries and strengthen ties under the leaderships of Jordan’s King Abdullah and Kuwait’s new emir, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Safadi said that through their policies, the two countries aim to serve the interests of Arab countries and the issues that affect them, the most important of which is the Palestinian cause, and stressed that Jordan will continue to be a defender of justice and Palestinian rights.

He added that Jordanians are unanimous in their support for Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Safadi also had a separate meeting with the UN’s resident coordinator in Jordan, Sheri Ritsema-Anderson, during which they stressed the need to uphold human rights and the principles and concepts of international law without discrimination.

The two officials emphasized the importance of international support for King Abdullah’s efforts to end the war in Gaza. Safadi said the king and Queen Rania have repeatedly highlighted blatant double standards and the selective nature of efforts to implement international and human rights laws.

He also noted what he described as Western bias toward the deceptive narrative of the Israeli occupation that depicts the aggressor as the victim.

“All know, deep down, that the occupation’s acts are pure brutality,” he said, adding that the targeting of civilians, women and children, hospitals, schools, mosques and churches are war crimes and must be stopped.

He emphasized Jordan’s “unequivocal” rejection of any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland, adding that this would be a violation of international law with disastrous consequences for the region.

Ritsema-Anderson said the war on Gaza has shown that not all people are guaranteed universal human rights on an equal footing.

She added that the UN is committed to supporting Jordan’s efforts to achieve its humanitarian and development priorities and its strategic goals, especially with regard to the economy, education and food security.

Jordan, she said, is a “model” of stability, which everyone must support as a fundamental pillar of regional security.