The Jordanian street is angry as the war in Gaza continues, and for the last seven days in a row, including Saturday night, there have been mass demonstrations in the kingdom against Israel and in support of the Palestinians and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Every day, thousands march through the streets of the capital Amman toward the empty Israeli embassy building with the aim of besieging it, chanting among other things "The people want the al-Qassam Brigades," the military arm of Hamas.
A demonstration of support for Gaza near the Israeli embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan
These are planned demonstrations and posts on social media networks invite the masses to participate. Jordanian police forces confront them and use means to disperse demonstrations. Already on Monday, the demonstrators managed to cross the barriers placed on the way to the embassy, and advanced toward it shouting "Gaza is hungry and the Arab governments are cowards."
A message sent out prior to the demonstration, under the hashtag "Jordan supports the resistance (Hamas)," wrote that: "Out of anger at the crimes of the Zionist enemy in the siege of Al Shifa Hospital, and out of anger at the invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, we call on Jordanian youth to support the resistance at 10 p.m. after prayers and mobilize to besiege the embassy of the Zionist enemy."
Throughout the week, demonstrators called on the Jordanian government to close the Israeli embassy, sever diplomatic ties and stop any expression of normalization with Israel, block the passage of goods from the Gulf countries to Israel and stop the export of vegetables to Israel.
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Protests in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan
(Photo: Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP)
The Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on the criticism expressed by the demonstrators toward other Arab regimes and their failure to provide real aid to Gaza. Some protest signs read: 'What are the Egyptian people doing?', 'Why is the Rafah crossing closed?', 'Come with us to Palestine.' The same report claimed that in demonstrations in Egypt, the participants responded: "Tell our friends in Amman, Egypt is still here."
Senior Hamas officials also took part in the agitation on the Jordanian street by criticizing the country's peace agreements with Israel. At a women's conference held in the kingdom on Wednesday, the head of the movement's political bureau, Khaled Mashal, participated in a video call: "The masses of the nation must participate in the battle to free Al Aqsa," he said. He added that the blood of the Arab nation should mix with the blood of the Palestinians.
A similar message was conveyed on Wednesday when Hamas rebroadcast the announcement of the head of the military branch, Muhammad Deif, from the morning of October 7, in which he called on Arabs and Muslims around the world to move toward Israel, without letting borders stop "the honor of Jihad." Calls of this type provoked criticism from the authorities in Jordan. In a statement broadcast on Sky News in Arabic, the government spokesman reminded the speakers that Jordan is a sovereign country.
This is not the first time during the war that statements of this kind by Hamas members have aroused resentment in Arab countries. In November, Mashal managed to anger the government in Morocco as well when he participated in a conference held in the country and used the stage to claim that its foreign relations with Israel are "a mistake that must be corrected," and called on citizens to demand that the leadership sever ties. In Morocco this was seen as an incitement to civil disobedience. Now similar statements are angering the Jordanians.
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Anti-Israel protests outside of the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan
(Photo: REUTERS/Alaa Al-Sukhni)
Demonstrations around the Israeli embassy in Amman have taken place intermittently since the beginning of the war, but in the last week they have become a routine event. The reasons for this are a combination of the month of Ramadan; Land Day, that was observed at the end of the week; and developments such as the IDF operation at Al Shifa hospital that add fuel to the fire. The authorities are allowing the demonstrators to vent, but have announced that they will not tolerate an attempt to storm the embassy building, and certainly not attempts to reach the border with Israel, as was done at the beginning of the war.
Jordan is the Arab country that has mobilized most significantly in favor of the Gaza Strip since October, including transferring aid in various ways, such as airdrops, or diplomatically. Senior officials in the kingdom, including King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, have held meetings around the world in an attempt to gain support for stopping the war.