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Jordan’s trade unions called on Wednesday for a boycott of a cycling tour for environmental awareness, saying the event involving Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians was really a cover to normalise ties with the Jewish state.

The three-day event organised by Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) is a “torch-run” starting October 8 in Jordan, going on to Israel and finishing in the Palestinian territories.

“This association is working to impose normalisation with the Zionist enemy under cover of environmental activities,” Badi Rafaiyeh, head of a trade union-based committee that opposes better ties with Israel, told AFP.

The cross-border cycling event is aimed at drawing attention to the threatening impacts of climate change on the lower Jordan River and the Dead Sea, which is shared by Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians.

“We refuse this activity, which we consider harmful for Jordan,” Rafaiyeh told AFP ( read complete news story here)

While Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994 the Jordanian trade union movement has been the loudest voice in the Kingdom of Jordan against peace and normalising relations with Israel.

Read some earlier reports about Jordanian unions and Israel

* Jordanian unions red light King’s Palestine peace stance

* Engineers’ Union leads protests, calls for bans on organised tours to Jerusalem

* Islamic Action Front leader urges Jordan unions to spearhead anti-Israel campaign

* Why are Egypt/Jordan unions on frontline against normalisation?