Hundreds Rally in Amman against Israel Gas Deal

Arab World

January 4th, 11:04am

Amman – Asharq Al-Awsat

Jordanian demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against a government agreement to import natural gas from Israel, in Amman, Jordan, Oct. 14, 2016. (Reuters)

Hundreds of people rallied in central Amman on Friday to protest against Jordan’s gas deal with Israel. Several opposition parties took part in the march, including Islamist, leftist and national groups, as well as labor unions. Protesters called for holding to account successive Jordanian governments that had helped lead to the signing of the deal, despite wide popular opposition. They called on Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz’s government to immediately annul the “treasonous” agreement. The import of Israeli gas is a service to the “Zionist occupation that is strengthening itself at the expense of the murder of Palestinians.” The deal between the Texas-based Noble Energy and Jordan’s National Electricity Company (NEPCO) went into effect on Wednesday. The supplies, from Israel’s largest offshore natural gas field Leviathan have begun for an experimental three-month period, according to the terms of a $10 billion deal NEPCO struck with Noble Energy Inc in 2016, the state-owned power utility said in a statement. “The experimental pumping will continue for three-months under the technical and contractual terms between the two sides,” said the statement by NEPCO. Under the agreement, the US-Israeli consortium will supply Jordan gas for 15 years from the field in the Mediterranean. Activists and lawmakers have lobbied the government for years with little success of scrapping the purchase. “It’s a black day in the history of Jordan and a crime against the nation and a national catastrophe that makes our sovereignty hostage and the energy sector in the hands of the Zionist occupation,” said the mainstream Islamic Action Front, the country’s main political opposition. A pipeline that goes to the north of the country distributes the gas to the country’s power plants for electricity generation. The Jordanian government said after the agreement was signed that securing stable energy prices for the next decade can achieve annual savings of at least $500 million annually and help reduce a chronic budget deficit. Energy-dependent Jordan imports about 95% of its energy needs with demand for electricity that rises by 6% to 7% annually.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2066176/hundreds-rally-amman-against-israel-gas-deal