TEHRAN - While some of the Arab leaders, particularly in the Persian Gulf region, are normalizing relations with the Zionist regime, the people of these states deeply despise the Zionists.

To show their protest, they normally set the Zionist flags on fire or they trample it down. Just recently Jordan's current Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Jumana Ghunaimat walked over an Israeli flag painted on the floor of the headquarters of Jordan's professional Unions complex in Amman.

She was on her way to attend a meeting between Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al Razzaz and union representatives. Razzaz, however, entered the building through a rear door, avoiding having to walk over the flag.

In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry, on Sunday said that it filed a strong condemnation with the Jordanian government over a photo of the Jordanian Information Minister Jumana Ghunaimat stepping on the Israeli flag in the engineers' union building in Amman, which it described as an “act of disrespect.” The ministry called the acting Jordanian ambassador in Israel, Mohammad Hmeid, to its offices for “clarifications.” 

Jordanian Members of Parliament strongly supported Ghunaimat action. Yahya Saud, the chairman of the Jordanian parliament's Palestine Committee, said that Ghunamiat’s action was the least she could do, and that the Zionist flag should be painted at the entrance of all Jordanian ministries and institutions for Jordanian citizens to walk on it. “Every day Israel tramples human, moral and religious values down, and the Jordanian minister action represents the position of the Jordanian people” he added.

Jordanian MP Nabil Gishan called on the entire 130 Jordanian representatives to walk over Israeli flag at the entrance of the headquarters of Jordan's professional Unions complex. “As long as the Palestinian cities, including al-Quds, al-Khalil (Hebron) and Bethlehem, are occupied, we will trample on the flag of the Zionist regime” he said.

Gishan added the complaint coming from a regime that kills and displaces Palestinians is not very strange.

Ray al-Youm newspaper writes: the Israeli occupation didn’t step on our flags, but they trample on Arabs and Muslims’ rights and dignity on a daily basis, through their criminal acts in Gaza and the West Bank. Israelis shot and kill innocent Palestinian civilians who demonstrate for peace or protest against Israeli settlements. 

The Jordanian government should not pay heed to Israeli protests and show the occupiers that they have committed unpardonable insults. For instance, when one of the Israeli security guards at Israeli embassy in Amman cold heartedly opened fire on Jordanian citizens and killed them, Benjamin Netanyahu gave the cold shoulder to the Jordanian officials’ formal demand to hold a murder trial for the offender and returned to Tel Aviv a day after the incident. 

The flag of Israel is a symbol of occupation, aggression and bloodshed, and stepping on it is a way of demonstrating resistance. If Israelis have forgotten or ignored this fact, one must remind them of it, and Jordanian Minister Ghunaimat did just that.

Jordan shouldn’t turn into a plaything for the Zionist regime and answer Israel’s demands. The Jordanian government should strongly support Minister Ghunaimat’s act and ignores Israel’s huff and puff, because simply her steps on Israel’s flag shows Jordanian anger towards the occupation regime and its crimes.”

In any case, Arabs have proven to hate the invaders of the Muslims lands and have admiration for those rising against the Zionist regime.

Such measures are remarkable at a time when the Arab rulers are warming up to Tel Aviv. The agreement between Israel, Egypt and Jordan hasn’t lessened the hatred for Tel Aviv, because the accord is just a piece of paper and has had no effect on the viewpoint of the Arab people of Israel.

Maeir Uzul, a political analyst at Maariv, a national Hebrew-language daily newspaper in Israel, acknowledged, “Israel has a hateful and negative atmosphere against itself.  All stratum of society in Egypt, from journalists, lawyers, teachers, engineers to workers, business owners and ordinary people hate Israel. They do not want to interact with us, and the word ‘normalization of relations with Tel Aviv’ is like a major and unforgivable crime.”