In Amman (Jordan).
At dusk every day since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel, what begins as a calming of the blare of horns amid traffic congestion in the Rabieh district of western Amman, Jordan, quickly evolves into a powerful chorus of popular voices. “The people want Palestine to be free” or “With our blood and soul we will sacrifice ourselves for the Al-Aqsa Mosque” echo in unison, filling every street corner with determination and solidarity for the Palestinian people. .
At each gathering, hundreds of Jordanians and Palestinians flock determinedly to the Al-Kalouti Mosque, a place of great symbolic importance since just a few steps away stands the Israeli embassy, heavily guarded by local security forces. Security.
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United by unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, this gathering includes youth as well as families and older people of all backgrounds. Among them is Reem, 38, a Jordanian and Palestinian whose family is originally from Nablus (West Bank) but was forced to go into exile in Jordan during the Nakba, when the state of Israel was founded in 1948.
“I feel anger and helplessness. I come here to express my solidarity with the people of Gaza, like everyone who is here today,” she assures, with the agreement of the two friends who accompany her every evening. “It is not possible to watch the daily bombings in Gaza, this genocide justified by Israel and spread by the Western media, without taking action.”
Protesters raise or throw their shoes to denounce the West’s double standards. | Faraj Kassir
Historical support
For Layan Ounis, project manager and research fellow in the Jordanian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank close to the Christian Democratic Union, Jordan’s support for the Palestinian cause can be explained in particular by historical factors. Since the Nakba of 1948 and the Naksa of 1967, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have found refuge in Jordan. “Everything that happens in Palestine resonates in Jordan in one way or another, and has done so for decades,” the researcher notes.
Today, 2.3 million Palestinians are registered as refugees with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East. According to some estimates, more than half of the country’s population may even be of Palestinian origin.
In Jordan, the October 7 Hamas attack and all subsequent events are generally not viewed as an isolated incident, but are placed in a historical context linked to decades of Palestinian dispossession, reminds Layan Ounis. “The current war is often portrayed as a war between Hamas and Israel, but many Jordanians see it as Palestinian resistance to an oppressive system.”
Breaking off relations with Israel
In addition to expressing support for the Palestinians – who, according to Amnesty International, face an “apartheid system”, colonization, human rights violations committed by Israel in the occupied territories, as well as the “grave threat of genocide” and “mass ethnic extermination” while in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN “purges” are currently underway, protesters are trying to put pressure on their leaders to cut ties with Israel.
The two countries negotiated a peace treaty to end the decades-long conflict in 1994 and a gas deal in 2016. And they are expected to sign an agreement during the Dubai Climate Change Conference (COP 28), which is scheduled to open on November 12. In particular, the latter provides for Jordan to supply Israel with solar energy from a plant financed by the United Arab Emirates in exchange for desalinated water.
“All these agreements make us more dependent on the enemy. We cannot trust Israel because they have constantly betrayed the Palestinians,” laments Mohammad, 23, who proudly wears the keffiyeh and attends demonstrations in support of Palestine every day. “If we take a hostile attitude towards them or if they attack us, they could simply cut off our energy and water supplies, like they did to the people of Gaza,” he added, as demonstrators in the distance called for normalization and the chanting agreements on water and gas are treason.
“We need other people to join us so that the West and the US government hear our voices and not just listen to the Israeli point of view,” said Osaid al-Hersh, a Palestinian living in Qatar who came to the demonstration with his wife has come, Duha Batta. | Faraj Kassir
The fear of overflow
During previous conflicts, the Jordanian monarchy found itself in a delicate position, caught between its agreements with Israel and a population that strongly rejected them. For example, during the April 2022 Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, King Abdullah II contented himself with condemning Israel’s “unilateral actions” while accusing the country of committing “provocative acts” against Israel violated the “law” and historical status quo” of the Muslim holy site – of which Jordan has been the guardian since 1924. For their part, 87 of the 130 members of the country’s parliament have called on the government to abandon the unpopular peace agreement.
However, given the unwavering stance of the United States, Jordan’s allies and unconditional supporters of Israel, as well as growing concerns about an escalation of the conflict in the West Bank and an influx of new Palestinian refugees, the country has had to toughen its position. “Recently, the king firmly reiterated that the expulsion of the Palestinians is a red line that must not be crossed,” recalls Layan Ounis.
“Jordan has serious concerns about the expulsion or expulsion of Palestinians from its territory, as this would amount to permanent displacement, thereby hindering the prospect of the establishment of a Palestinian state and reinforcing the idea that Jordan could be considered as an alternative for Palestinians. “Looking for a home,” she adds.
While the Jordanian king reiterated on October 11th that no peace in the Middle East was possible without the emergence of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, on November 1st the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and emigration made the decision to withdraw from the country Jordan’s ambassador to Israel simultaneously condemned “the Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza.”
The Western “double standards”
The monarchy has also been highly critical of the West’s double standards, as evidenced by King Abdullah II’s speech at the “Cairo Peace Summit” on October 21 and Queen Rania’s interview on CNN broadcast on October 25, in which she claimed that “the silence [du monde] is deafening and [que] For many in the region, it makes the Western world complicit in supporting and covering Israel.”
Demonstrations in support of Palestine are sweeping across the country, from Mafraq in the north to Aqaba in the far south via Madaba. | Faraj Kassir
This position is widely shared by the population, who continue to express outrage at the West’s stance at every rally in support of Palestine. “We saw how the West defended Ukraine and how people were angry about the killing of civilians, but when it comes to Palestinians, it’s a completely different story,” says Reem.
“It is time for Westerners to stop lecturing us about human rights when we do not respect these principles. “You have to see everyone as a human being and end the dominance of certain groups of people,” she continues. As protesters continue to flock to Al-Kalouti Mosque and with no ceasefire or peace agreement in sight, the Jordanian people’s solidarity with Palestine appears stronger than ever.