Jordan’s King Abdullah II has not rested a moment since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas. Within a few days, he traveled to major European cities as well as Egypt on diplomatic missions. Halfway through his jet-setting, the news of the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital caused shock waves throughout Jordan.
After Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas decided to skip a four-way summit with US President Joe Biden in Amman in response to the disaster, King Abdullah had to make the tough decision of canceling the entire summit, a unique opportunity to host the US and Egyptian presidents.
Some argue that it was not easy for Jordan, which is dependent on US funding and support, to practically reject the visit of the president of the United States.
However, analysts don’t expect any major negative repercussions for Jordan following the decision, especially since President Biden has made it clear he would not call for a cease-fire. Politically, a meeting with the US president without a cease-fire call would have been much more disastrous to the king in Jordanian public opinion than having to cancel the Amman-based summit.
The Gaza hospital catastrophe
The Gaza hospital catastrophe led Jordanians, of Palestinian origin or not, to try to act. Jordanians of all walks of life expressed their anger about the hospital disaster in strongly worded protests, as well as a business strike in Amman, highly unusual for the Jordanian capital.
Many of the protests were genuinely ad hoc with almost no prior planning. While in previous protests, the Islamists were often the planners and the attendees, many of the current participants of the demonstrations are first-timers. The images in the media from Palestine have sparked unusual courage for many to go out to the streets, leading to a huge uptick in protests.
Jordanian Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein added their voice to the protesters in their own way. The queen turned her photo to a black circle while the crown prince issued a strong anti-Israeli statement. Huge electronic street advertisements that were running commercial content switched to portraying support and expressions of mourning to Palestinians while highlighting Palestinian-Jordanian relations.
Nidal Qaqish, a former member of the As-Salt city council, told the Media Line that Jordan’s position is strong.
“We are blessed with a king who has done what no other Arab leader has done,” he said, noting that the entire country including people of different backgrounds and religions are all behind the king. “I am also proud of the progressive position that Jordanian Christians have taken in both supporting His Majesty and in giving financial and other support to the people of Palestine.”
Mohammad Ersan, anchor of a popular talk show Rainbow on Radio al-Balad in Amman, told the Media Line that Jordan has seen unprecedented demonstrations in the last few days.
“While there was some toughness in the slogans that were shouted, most of the participants were youth who had no history in public life,” he said. “They were shocked by the images of suffering Palestinians that they saw, and they want the government to make practical decisions and not just denunciations. They are calling for breaking off relations with Israel as well as canceling the gas deal with Israeli companies.”
Jordan declared three official days of mourning for the tragedy at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. Both The Jerusalem Dioceses of the Episcopalian Church, which includes Jordan and Jordan’s Baptist Convention, issued separate statements about the disaster.
The hospital is often called Al-Maamadani, or the Baptist, which is a reference to the fact that it was established, back in the late 19th century, and originally run by Baptist missionaries. The hospital was later turned over to the Episcopalian Diocese in Jerusalem, which continues to operate the hospital as well as another hospital in Nablus.
Even before the scenes of death and destruction at the hospital, the situation in Gaza had gathered momentum in Jordan. HIMAM, a coalition of 11 Jordanian civil-society NGOs, held a press conference that included phone calls with Gaza- and Ramallah-based civil society leaders.
The coordinator of HIMAM called the war on Gaza “genocide” and called for an immediate end to the aggression.
“They have blocked basic human needs while targeting civilians and causing mass forced displacement,” said Abdel Aziz, director general of the Justice Center for Legal Aid, which is part of HIMAM. “Israel is obliged to secure safe paths so that humanitarian assistance could reach Gazans.”
Dislocating Palestinians
In addition, Abdel Aziz called out the attempts to dislocate Palestinians.
“We also reject Israeli’s occupation plans to force Palestinians to migrate from their land,” Aziz added.
Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network in the Gaza Strip, warned of a human disaster if humanitarian aid is not allowed to enter the Gaza Strip.
Hiba Zayadin, researcher for Human Rights Watch, confirmed her organization’s description of Israeli actions to be war crimes, in addition to Hamas’ acts of violence in southern Israel.
“Israeli war crimes include the enforcement of turning off water, food, and electricity, denial of a humanitarian corridor, and the Israeli use of the illegal [substance] white phosphorus,” she said.
“A statement from Human Rights Watch has also described the Hamas actions as war crimes,” Zayadin continued. “Human Rights Watch has verified four videos from the October 7 attacks by Hamas gunmen, showing three incidents of deliberate killings, and presents this analysis in a video published today. The attacks should be investigated as war crimes.”
Ammar Al-Dwaik, CEO of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, spoke about the failure of Western countries, the media, and even the International Criminal Court leadership to do or say anything that aims to de-escalate the situation.
Al-Dwaik said that it is very important that the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan send a strong message that he is monitoring developments and will warn against potential war crimes. The Palestinian human rights expert argued that such a strong statement could help deter both sides from carrying out war crimes.
In addition to popular and civil society protests and meetings, a few of the largest Jordanian tribes issued strongly worded statements supporting the king and denouncing the Israeli occupation and attacks on civilians in Gaza.