Jordanian Authorities Should End Security Cooperation, Suspend Diplomatic Relations, with Israel
(Washington D.C., April 9, 2024): Jordan's security forces should end their violent crackdown, harassment, arrests, and ongoing detention of peaceful demonstrators protesting Israel's assault on Gaza, in their efforts to quash the largest mass protests taking place across the country since October. To minimize further civil strife, the Jordanian government should heed to public demands and suspend its diplomatic ties and intelligence cooperation with Israel in light of the ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza, said DAWN.
"It's no surprise that the Jordanian government is concerned about unprecedented protests in the country, which reflect public outrage not only at Israel's ongoing atrocities in Gaza but their own government's continued collaboration with Israel," said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director. "The best thing Jordan can do from both moral and national security perspectives is to allow protesters to express their opinions and end collaboration with Israel."
Escalation in Protests
Although there have been demonstrations in the country since the start of Israel's assault on Gaza, the size and geographic distribution of the protests started to escalate on March 21, and the protests have continued daily since then. On March 24, the largest protests were held in a number of Jordanian cities and towns, including Amman; Karak (including three sites at Mansheit Abu Hamour, Southern Al Mazar, and Downtown Karak); and Irbid. In all of these places, demonstrations started after Ramadan prayers, around 10:00 PM, and continued between a few hours and until dawn. Other cities and towns, like Madaba and Mlaih, organized demonstrations on different days. The numbers of protesters have varied, with 500 hundred in some places and up to ten thousand in others.
A youth-led organizing committee, which includes activists across the Jordanian political spectrum, established the "Youth Gathering to Support Resistance" (YGSR) in December. The group initiated the call to protest at the Israeli Embassy in Amman by encircling the embassy that day under the title of "Deluge of Jordanian Anger," a reference to the name of the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, "Deluge of Al-Aqsa."
The YGSR explained the purpose of their protest as to "ease the suffering of people in Gaza and to protect Jordan from the threat of the forced displacement of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories." They articulated their demands as: "halting the export of Jordanian vegetables to Israel; shutting down the transportation of goods between the UAE and Israel via Jordanian territory; terminating the agreements between Israel and Jordan, including agreements to import Israeli natural gas to Jordan, to exchange Jordanian electricity for Israeli water; and the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (Wadi Araba Treaty); and severing diplomatic relations with Israel. March 24 is a historically significant date in Jordan because it is the anniversary of the 2011 "Jordan Spring" uprisings calling for democracy in Jordan that the government violently quashed, killing one protester and injuring 120. Jordanian authorities prevent any attempt to commemorate the event.) Some demonstrators in East Amman also accused King Abdullah of collusion with Israel. On April 4, demonstrators expanded their chants to criticize Jordan's denial of their basic rights. On April 7, demonstrators mocked the incongruity between the King's words and deeds, calling for youth empowerment and participation in political parties while denying their freedom of speech.
The protests around the Israeli embassy in Amman and Karak have continued since then, with protesters gathering daily after Iftar at 9 p.m. at a mosque near the embassy, then marching towards the embassy at around 10 p.m., and departing by dawn.
Government Attacks on Protesters
Since the start of protests on October 7, the government has responded by using security forces to forcibly disrupt protests, including using unnecessary violence, as documented by some human rights organizations. However, the government's violent response dramatically escalated starting on March 24 at the protest around the Israeli embassy in Amman, where police beat and hit protesters. Two participants who spoke to DAWN on condition of anonymity said that they witnessed Jordanian security forces harshly attacking the demonstrators and shared videos showing security forces attacking demonstrators. In the videos reviewed by DAWN, one shows a few police personnel attacking demonstrators; another shows police trying to arrest a demonstrator; a third shows security personnel in civilian clothes capturing one of the demonstrators and forcefully pushing him inside a police car. Police violence further increased on March 26, when they attacked Amman demonstrators with sticks and their hands, fired teargas canisters into the gathered crowds, and performed mass arrests.
"By violently suppressing the voices of its own citizens demanding justice for Palestinians, Jordan is not only violating their citizens' fundamental rights but also fueling public anger and disillusionment," said Jamal Al-Tahat, a Senior Advisor at DAWN. "The regime's unwisely harsh policies could turn Jordan's stability into the second casualty of the Gaza War."
Saleh Armouti, a member of Jordan's parliament, confirmed that the police beat protesters, including women, with their hands and sticks, arrested two hundred protesters and detained them at police stations throughout Amman. When Armouti attempted to share this information in Parliament on March 27, 2024, the Parliament Speaker, Ahmed Safadi, cut off his microphone, as shown in a video from the event.
Abdulrahman Shdefat, from Mansheat Bani Hassan, told DAWN on March 31 that the security forces arrested two of his brothers, Ibrahim Shdefat, an engineer, and Siraj Aldeen, a journalist, along with dozens of other demonstrators at a March 26 protest in Amman. He visited his brothers in Al-Moqar prison, 20 miles SouthEast of Ammanm before transferring one of them (Seraj Adeen) to another detention center in Rmemine NorthWest Amman. He said that though the prosecutor released all of those arrested on March 27, Amman Governor Yaser Al Adwan decided to detain the two brothers under the notorious Crime Prevention Law number 7/1954, which gives governors the power to detain anyone in their governorate. The Shdefat family announced on March 28, 2024 that they were coordinating a support group with the families of other detained activists who have not yet been released. Governor Al Adwan refused to release the two men on bail on March 31, 2024, according to their brother Abdulrahman.
Since March 31, according to sources in Amman attending the protests who spoke to DAWN, the police appear to have changed their tactics from beating demonstrators to encircling the area around the embassy with three lines of police patrols to prevent people from gathering to protest and imposing a midnight curfew in the area. Ali Braizat, a Jordanian lawyer who has attended and is monitoring the protests, explained that it is now much more difficult for protesters to reach the area near the embassy, reducing the number of protesters to a few thousand.
Media attacks and inciting national division
The authorities also appear to have launched a coordinated media campaign to demonize the demonstrators and exploit and incite divisions between Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian origin in the country. Persons affiliated with the government are echoing the same talking points, criticizing the demonstrators and calling on social media for a "Loyalty Deluge" from Jordanians, as a response to what protesters have called their "Jordanian Anger Deluge." Participants in the media attack against the protesters have included former ministers, members of parliament, and high ranking officials praising the King's support of Palestinians and demonizing the demonstrators as "puppets of Iran and Hamas" who threaten national security and stability.
In a more direct threat against protesters, in a tweet on March 29, Samih Maitah, a former Media Minister, called for the "withdrawal of nationality from Jordanians of Palestinian origin participating in the demonstrations." Maitah was previously associated with the Muslim Brotherhood but left the group in 1999 and became a supporter of the monarchy. On March 29, current Media Minister Mohanad Mubaidheen, in an interview with Sky News Arabic, accused Hamas of instigating the protesters against the Jordanian government.
The media campaign against Jordan's protesters has extended to Saudi Arabian media, which has separately exerted efforts to silence pro-Palestine sentiment among Saudi citizens. On April 1, the Middle East Daily, an Arabic language newspaper close to the Saudi regime, published a feature story amplifying the official Jordanian government narrative accusing Hamas and Iran of inciting the protesters and quoting a Saudi official encouraging Jordanian authorities to crack down on the demonstrations: "Saudi Arabia supports any measure taken or will be taken by Jordan to maintain its security…. Jordan's security for Saudi Arabia is an integral part of its security." On April 4, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad Bin Salman (MBS) called King Abdullah II and reiterated the same view: "Saudi Arabia is supporting whatever measures that have been taken by Jordan to preserve its security and stability." While Saudi sources publicized the call and it received international media coverage, Jordanian media and the Jordanian King's official page described the phone conversation, connecting it to the Gaza war, without mentioning anything regarding the demonstrations in Amman.
The royal family and the government also have attempted to counter the pro-Palestine protests by appealing to tribal divisions between Bedouin Jordanians in East Jordan and Palestinian citizens of Jordan, inciting even sharper public polarization in the country. On March 27, King Abdullah II, Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein visited Central Badia, where they attended a traditional arts performance, "Al-Samer," performed by the ranks of the Hajana Unit of the Royal Badia (Bedouin) Police, long known as loyal to the monarchy. They paid another visit to Southern Badia, one of three Bedouin provinces, on March 31, where the King publicly reiterated that Jordan is doing its best to help Palestinians in Gaza and suggested that the demonstrators are threatening national security. One prominent Bedouin activist publicly criticized these visits as a decades-long tactic to divide Jordanian society, while a retired high-rank army officer told DAWN on March 27, also under condition of anonymity, that "it is unlikely the King can mobilize East Jordanians, including Jordanians from Badia (Bedouin) and other rural areas, against the demonstrators if the situation escalates, especially in light of demonstrations all over the country."
Jordan's Ongoing Cooperation with Israel
Since the ratification of the Israel Jordan "Wadi Araba" Peace Treaty of October 26, 1994, Israel and Jordan have established growing economic and security cooperation, both "above board and beneath the surface." At the security level, Jordan and Israel have developed a common "threat and security perspective," which entails defense and intelligence sharing and cooperation against armed groups, including Hamas and factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The relationship between the two countries has withstood vulnerability to regional conflicts. Military cooperation between Jordan and Israel also has increased, including military training exercises. Jordan has made no announcements that it has suspended defense and intelligence cooperation with Israel.
In addition, Israel and Jordan have directly and indirectly entered into a number of economic agreements. In one agreement, known as the Natural Gas Deal, an American company, Noble Energy, functions as a third party agent to provide natural gas from Israel to Jordanian companies, in an apparent effort to avoid negative public sentiment against any direct agreement between Jordan and Israel. In addition, Jordan signed an agreement in December 2023 to facilitate a land route of goods through Jordan for shipments through the UAE and Saudi Arabia to Israel. The land route is designed and operated by Israeli logistic company Trucknet, and is intended to enable Israel to bypass the Houthi Red Sea embargo on Israeli shipments. There is also a pending agreement to exchange water from Israel for electricity from Jordan. In response to public criticism, Jordan has suspended approving the agreement but protesters have demanded that the agreement be terminated entirely.
Local and international experts have criticized Jordan's ongoing cooperation with Israel. One former member of the Parliament told DAWN on March 27, on condition of anonymity, that "Jordan authorities lie, claiming they are against Israel's war but colluding with Netanyahu's radical right government." Jillian Schwedler, an academic focused on Jordan, described relations as: "more of the same…. Sharp condemnation of Israel, strained formal diplomatic relations for a while, but little change in policy or ties with Israel"
In November 2023, DAWN called on Jordan to end its peace treaty and all military coordination with Israel in light of Israel's ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Despite Jordan's rhetorical condemnations of Israeli aggression, the government has failed to take meaningful action to support the Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable. Jordan's continued adherence to its peace treaty with Israel and its reluctance to sever diplomatic ties send a message of complicity and undermines the credibility of its stated commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Threat to National Stability
The escalating protests in Jordan come on the heels of smaller but persistent protests throughout the country against the government and its policies, in light of spiraling unemployment, inflation and political repression. The link between the pro-Palestine protests and widespread domestic political and economic dissatisfaction in the country is suggested by the decision to hold the country's biggest protest at the Israeli embassy on March 24, the anniversary of the 2011 Jordan Spring protests.
"The unprecedented unrest in Jordan should be another reason for the Biden Administration to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's Advocacy Director. "President Biden's blind support of Israel's genocide is destabilizing the entire region."
Experts and political leaders in Jordan have warned that the government's continued cooperation with Israel and quashing of protests are a threat to national stability. On March 29, a prominent leader of Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan who had called for strict separation of the group from Hamas, said under condition of anonymity to DAWN that "the situation does not need instigation from Hamas leaders. There are many economic and political reasons for Jordanians to protest…. The Gaza war is merely an ignition." A high-ranking retired intelligence officer concurred with this assessment, telling DAWN under condition of anonymity on March 30, that the King "is adamantly insisting on maintaining the country's pre-war political ties to Israel. He is ignoring all indicators from the Jordanian public about the impossibility of this option." Alluding to the King's visits to Central and Southern Badia, he said the King is "trying to use depleted tactics and obsolete tools to deal with the unprecedented situation" of mass public protests demanding an end to Jordanian-Israeli cooperation."
Around fifty percent of the Jordanian population is of Palestinian origin, who are concentrated in Amman and Zarqa. 2.2 million of them are registered as refugees by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees with the United Nations.
