Jordan's Friday protest

A firsthand account of yesterday's protest in Amman from a colleague who happened to be there:

I went to Friday's protest in Amman. Salah Armouti, head of the Bar Association, publicly called for Friday prayers to be held in front of the Association building in Shmesani. Jordan Times quotes him saying no laws prohibit it (actually, the Interior Minister issued something in 1991 or 1992 banning Friday prayers in open fields). Friday afternoon, the police blocked almost all roads into the central shopping district of  Shmesani to motor traffic (including Culture St. and the road lined with coffee shops). Additionally, streets within two blocks of the Association building were closed to EVERYONE, even pedestrians. I tried to talk my way up to C-Town, but they said no one is allowed in that area until 2:00. It was a clever move by the MB and Associations. They knew they wouldn't be allowed to run an independent protest and always planned on joining the gov-approved march downtown. By calling for it, though, they forced the regime to disrupt happenings in Shmesani and Rabia. Gulfies walked past riot police to get to Sultan Coffee Shop.

So, I went downtown to the routinized and controlled march that starts at Jami' Hussein and follows the same route and program. There was one Hashd flag and one other small party, but otherwise it was a Muslim Brother affair (ie, no other visible members of the Higher Committee). Even the head of the IAF wore a MB hat as he spoke. Typical fare - support for Hamas, HizbAllah, bi-ruh bi-dim nafdiki ya Beirut, condemnation of Zionist aggression and colonialism. The Association carried a large banner reading 'kulna al-muqawama', and other banners condemend Arab silence in the face of Zionist crimes. Quite a few HizbAllah flags, but dozens of Muslim Brother flags. Chanters called on Hamas to launch operations and Nasrallah to fire missiles at Tel Aviv (!). Nasrallah's name was mentioned more than any other. The speech was typical as well, although he threw in a bit about electoral reform and the release of the three detained IAF MPs. The MB coordinated encouraged the crowd to chant for Ali Sukkar and Abu Faris. I got the sense that the leadership of the Brothers/IAF were using the gov-approved solidarity march to show support for the detained IAF deputees, whose trial begins this Monday. There were more MB flags than usual. The crowd wanted to yell support for Hamas and HizbAllah and burn an Israeli flag. The coordinators wanted pictures of Jordanians waving MB flags and supporting their MPs.

Interestingly, (and I looked diligently), I did not see a single picture of the king in the march. The other 8 protests I've seen in the same spot by the same groups were always led by a nominal picture of the king. Yesterday, I didn't see a single one. An al-Manar TV crew led this protest. I also only counted three Jordanian flags in the crowd, and one was attached to Lebanese and Palestinian flags. Typical mukhabarat and police presence, although the police had more riot gear than they usually do for these things.

I went to protests in Cairo a few weeks ago. The atmosphere between the two countries is completely different. This is obvious, but I was nevertheless struck how controlled and tame the MB is in Jordan. In Cairo, the police surround and intimidate protestors with overwhelming force. Literally, security outnumber civilians. The Egyptian gov also systematically hires thugs (even called baltagiyyah). I took some pictures of gov-hired thugs standing in a tight square across from protestors, holding police-issued batons (!). The Egyptian authorities make little attempt to hide what they do.

Thanks for the write-up - others on the scene (and not just in Amman) should feel free to send in their own observations!
UPDATE:   Bahraini protests, courtesy of Chan'ad (moved up from comments):

Here in Bahrain there have been lots of demonstrations -- at least 6 in the past week I think. Lots of Hezbollah flags and Bahrain flags... a few Palestinian flags, but hardly any Lebanese flags. Lots of photos of Hasan Nasrallah, and a few of the late Shaikh Ahmed Yassin. Lots of chants of "labbaik ya nasrallah" and "labbaik ya muqawama".

Obviously the dynamics here are a bit different from the rest of the Arab world due to the large Shia population. Nonetheless, the demonstrations in Bahrain are similar to those elsewhere in that they are being used a vehicle to express anger against the ruling regimes. Angry participants at the demonstrations and on online forums frequently refer to the Al Khalifa ruling family as "Zionists" (al khalifa, ya sahyon); though this insult has been commonly used prior to the Lebanese conflict also.

The Leftists and Baathists (and even a few Sunni Islamists) have tried to also show their support and co-sponsored one of the first demonstrations, and other activities supporting Lebanon. But the Shia Islamists, by virtue of the sheer numbers of their supporters have totally dominated the scene.

So the first 4 or 5 demonstrations went ahead without much govt interference. There was a huge one on Wednesday with several thousand people participating. Some photos here.

But yesterday a few hundred protestors wanted to march to the US Embassy, but the govt wouldn't allow it, so it got nasty, as tear gas and rubber bullets were fired resulting in several injuries. Some photos here.

Comments

[Luke]

I watched the demonstration, and subsequent asskicking, at Al-Azhar yesterday from the upper levels of a shop in the Khan il-Khalili.

I agree with your friend on the difference of the tenor of the demonstrations.

The sheer volume of army officers in riot gear and the free floating thugs brought traffic to a near stand-still, with troop carriers lining the right side of the road.

The melee was pretty straightforward, and the government pretty successfully clamped down on any possible steam that the populace might want to blow off.

[chan'ad]

Here in Bahrain there have been lots of demonstrations -- at least 6 in the past week I think. Lots of Hezbollah flags and Bahrain flags... a few Palestinian flags, but hardly any Lebanese flags. Lots of photos of Hasan Nasrallah, and a few of the late Shaikh Ahmed Yassin. Lots of chants of "labbaik ya nasrallah" and "labbaik ya muqawama".

Obviously the dynamics here are a bit different from the rest of the Arab world due to the large Shia population. Nonetheless, the demonstrations in Bahrain are similar to those elsewhere in that they are being used a vehicle to express anger against the ruling regimes. Angry participants at the demonstrations and on online forums frequently refer to the Al Khalifa ruling family as "Zionists" (al khalifa, ya sahyon); though this insult has been commonly used prior to the Lebanese conflict also.

The Leftists and Baathists (and even a few Sunni Islamists) have tried to also show their support and co-sponsored one of the first demonstrations, and other activities supporting Lebanon. But the Shia Islamists, by virtue of the sheer numbers of their supporters have totally dominated the scene.

So the first 4 or 5 demonstrations went ahead without much govt interference. There was a huge one on Wednesday with several thousand people participating. Some photos here:
http://bhnation.net/vb/showthread.php?p=25453

But yesterday a few hundred protestors wanted to march to the US Embassy, but the govt wouldn't allow it, so it got nasty, as tear gas and rubber bullets were fired resulting in several injuries. Some photos here:
http://www.bhfuture.net/vb/showthread.php?t=735