Arab Spring Reaches Jordan.

[Kompromat]

Thousands angry Jordanians call for king Abdullah II to go

Friday, 16 November 2012 20:52
Posted by Muhammad Iqbal

AMMAN: Thousands of protesters made unprecedented calls on Friday for Jordan's King Abdullah II to go, as police blocked them from heading to the royal palace to vent their anger over sharp hikes in fuel prices."The people want to reform the regime. Freedom, freedom, down with Abdullah. God is greater than injustice Abdullah your era is gone," chanted crowds, which AFP estimated at more than 10,000 people, including Islamists and leftists.

"The people want the fall of the regime. Abdullah, reform or leave, you have lost legitimacy," they shouted angrily outside the Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman.Publicly insulting the king or calling for his ouster is rare in Jordan because it is illegal and can result in jail.Demonstrators held banners reading, "Playing with prices means playing with fire," "This is a real revolt against corruption" and "No reform without political and economic change. Long live the revolt of Jordanians."


Police prevented them from heading for the palace around eight kilometres (five miles) from the mosque, but no clashes were reported, an AFP reporter said.Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP: "Those who are calling for the fall of the regime are increasing because of wrong polices that reject people's demands.""This cannot and should not be ignored. The regime must reform before it is too late."

The protesters said they plan another demonstration at around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) near the interior ministry.Near Amman in Baqaa, the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp, around 2,000 people protested against price rises."Police had to fire tear gas after some 200 demonstrators hurled stones at police and tried to block a main road in the camp," a security official told AFP.Similar but smaller demonstrations took place elsewhere, including in the southern cities of Tafileh, Karak and Maan, as well as Irbid and Jerash in the north.The unrest erupted late on Tuesday after the announcement of a 53 percent increase in the price of household gas and a 12 percent rise in petrol.


Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur said the increases are necessary to help reduce a projected budget deficit of 3.5 billion dinars (around $5 billion dollars/3.9 billion euros) this year.Riots left one person dead and 71 injured, mainly policemen, according to police who arrested 158 people and recorded around 100 incidents of rioting, vandalism and theft nationwide.A police statement said that 30 people were released from detention on Friday.The Muslim Brotherhood has demanded that the king cancel the price hikes and postpone January 23 general elections, which the group said it will boycott.


Despite the unrest, US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Thursday Jordan remained an "important strategic partner."However, the US embassy has warned Americans to avoid areas where demonstrations are being held, while saying it was "carefully monitoring the security situation."Saudi Arabia also urged its citizens to stay away from public gatherings and universities in Jordan, state news agency SPA reported.


Thousands angry Jordanians call for king Abdullah II to go

UPDATE 4-Jordan protesters call for downfall of the regime | Reuters

Jordan protesters intensify call for reform - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

OpEdNews - News from Common Dreams: 'Down with the King': Jordan Protests Intensify as Police Threaten 'Iron Fist'

BBC News - Political and economic problems fuel Jordan protests

 

[Mitro]

That's a good news hope fully Jordanian people will be get rid of this rubbish Zionist puppet king

 

[eddieInUK]

Good news, wish Muslim will rise to the top.

 

[Kaniska]

Is Jordan has monarchy like SA?

 

[KingMamba]

Is Jordan has monarchy like SA?

Constitutional but the premier is basically king's puppet.

 

[T-Rex]

Angry over the increasing cost of fuel, protesters have returned to the streets in Jordan's capital, Amman.

Roughly 2,000 people gathered downtown on Friday afternoon to protest against a package of price increases, under which the cost of household gas will rise by 53 per cent and petrol by about 12 per cent, said Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston.

"But what's different about this protest and the protests that were held last night is that people are now starting to call for the downfall of King Abdullah," said Johnston. "We haven't heard this in demonstrations before. This is quite unusual."

Our correspondent also said that security presence was heavy and that crowds of monarchy loyalists had also started coming downtown, with police forming a line between them and the protesters calling for reform.

"Go down Abdullah, go down," the protesters chanted as police, some in riot gear, largely stayed away from crowd, near the main Husseini Mosque.

The crowed also chanted "The people want the downfall of the regime", the rallying cry of the Arab Spring uprisings that have shaken the Middle East and toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

"Shame. Shame. Prices are spiking and Abdullah gambles," people shouted.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition group, had previously called on people to take to the streets, but top officials from the group chose not to participate in the rally.

The 50-year-old king has ruled since his father, King Hussein, died 1999.

Crackdowns threatened

Jordanian authorities have threatened to crack down on those who incite violence during protests with an "iron fist", while opposition groups have pledged to continue demonstrations in the kingdom.

The protests, which erupted on Tuesday across the country, are the largest and most sustained to hit the country since the start of uprisings in the region nearly two years ago.

"We will hit with an iron fist those who violated the law by stirring unrest," Hussein Majali, Jordan's police chief, said on Thursday.

Armed men taking advantage of street chaos caused by the protests fired on two police stations late on Wednesday, wounding 17 people, including 13 police officers, officials said. One of the assailants was killed in the ensuing firefight.

Assailants stormed a police station in Irbid, in the country's far north, and fired on officers there on Wednesday night.

Another police station came under attack in the northern Amman suburb of Shafa Badran, where automatic weapons were used.

In Salt, northwest of Amman, protesters set fire to a civil affairs office.

The scene was less deadly in Amman itself on Wednesday night, although up to 1,000 people had spilled onto the streets.

On Tuesday, nearly 500 demonstrators clashed with anti-riot police in the capital and hurled stones at them after they were prevented from holding a sit-in near the interior ministry on Gamal Abdel Nasser Circle.

They set tyres and garbage containers ablaze and tried to block the main road between there and nearby Firas.

Bulding deficit

The violence started on Tuesday night after news of the price increases spread.

The measure aims to rein in a bulging budget deficit and secure a $2bn loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Minutes after state television announced the price rises, several thousand Jordanians poured into the streets.

The price rises, followed by an 11 per cent increase in public transport fares, drew sharp condemnation from the opposition, which warned of civil disobedience in the run-up to January general elections.

"The street is seething with anger and an explosion is coming," said Zaki Bani Irsheid, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan's most powerful opposition group.

"We want to create a Jordanian Spring with a local flavour - meaning reforms in the system while keeping our protests peaceful."

Jordan has been hit by frequent, but small, anti-government protests over the past 23 months, but the recent demonstrations have squarely shifted the focus from the government to the king.

Jordan protesters intensify call for reform - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

 

[T-Rex]

Those who are so worried about democracy in Syria will taste their own medicine now. Iran, Russia and China should arm the Jordanian opposition in case the despot in Amman refuses to go!

 

[Hack-Hook]

Constitutional but the premier is basically king's puppet.

There is nothing constitutional about it when the king is about all of the rules and can do anything without any sort of consequence .
For me it looks as constitutional as some of the Arab republics before and even after Arab spring.

 

[KingMamba]

There is nothing constitutional about it when the king is about all of the rules and can do anything without any sort of consequence .
For me it looks as constitutional as some of the Arab republics before and even after Arab spring.

It is constitutional on paper, that is essentially what I wrote.

 

[Hasbara Buster]

Arab winter.

 

[somebozo]

These Arabs despots are twice clever that their subjects. Fanatic gangs like Muslim Brotherhood are bred for this day, soon Mr Abdullah will convince the world that the alternate is worst and Arab Spring will turn into Arab Winter.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Good news, wish Muslim will rise to the top.

Eddie my brother, it is very complicated but...Muslims have a lot of problems and bad inside them (whatever race be they Arab, Bangladeshi, Turk etc) which is why we have the problems that we do.

What you are wishing for will take decades...of reform and self-improvement.

Re topic: Good news, I'm glad. I was in the country over a week ago in a transit from Saudi and felt that something like this could happen. Jordan as a society is deterioriating gradually.

 

[Hasbara Buster]

A Saudi Spring is urgently needed.

 

[Hammer-fist]

1. Apart from Shia-majority Bahrain, none of the Arab monarchies have had protests directly targeting the monarch.

This is the first.

2. The GCC worried by the Arab Spring even thought of adding fellow Arab monarchies, Jordan and Morocco to the GCC (though Morocco is not even in the gulf or at least in the peninsula, like Jordan is).

3. The other question in my mind is the dynamics between Filastinyeen (Palestinians) and original Jordanians (Al-Urdooniyeen Al Asliyeen) who are actually quite different in culture. The Hashemite monarchy has always had the support of the actual Jordanians more so than the Palestinians.

4. A relatively minor point (or maybe not) but in a conservative Arab Muslim country like Jordan the image of Abdullah's wife who is uncovered and quite liberal doesn't exactly go down too well, and if anything creates a distance between the monarch and the vast majority of conservative Jordanians.

 

[Edevelop]

Those who are so worried about democracy in Syria will taste their own medicine now. Iran, Russia and China should arm the Jordanian opposition in case the despot in Amman refuses to go!

Jordan has ties with Israel....