The many problems facing Jordan

I was sitting in a café last night when the news came through on my phone about the terrible news of Muath Kasasbeh being killed.

Despite being relatively close to the conflicts in neighbouring Syria and Iraq — and Gaza too — they mostly feel a world away.

I have been in Amman since I came from the UK in October. Amman, so far, has felt a haven of peace, calm and normality. 

Chatting with the driver of a taxi I was riding yesterday, he said “Daesh does not represent my religion. This is not Islam.”

Jordan is in a tricky situation. There has been growing discontent about Jordan’s role in the US-led coalition targeting Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Many Jordanians have been vehemently opposed to joining air strikes, embarrassed at having their country’s reputation smeared by Western values and fighting a war that is not their own.

Jordanians on the whole despise IS and what the group stands for, but many have little enthusiasm for military action of any kind.

Many others see being part of the coalition as necessary, given the country’s proximity to countries where violence is not only rife, but the norm, and where militant groups such as IS and Jabhat Al Nusra thrive.

Jordan feels it is paying a heavy price for being involved, but at the same time it is heavily reliant on the US for aid, security and intelligence.

Good relations with the West are imperative for the safety of the country.

The killing of Kasasbeh has forced Jordanians to become emotionally involved with IS’ activities and the government’s foreign policy.

The burning of Muath will no doubt stir further debate about Jordan’s role in the Middle East and the cosying up to its close ally, the US.

Jordan said it will execute prisoners, and it did two already, but is an eye-for-an-eye the right direction?

It may satisfy some Jordanians and provide a temporary sense of justice, but it is surely not a useful or very strategic policy for counteracting IS.

Given IS’ past record of brutality and lack of mercy, I highly doubt it will shed too many tears over a few prisoners in Jordan.

Jordan has its own domestic problems to deal with besides its foreign policy. Corruption and unemployment, for example. And of course what is going on outside Jordan’s borders has had far-reaching consequences within the Kingdom itself, namely the ever-growing refugee population, with people fleeing Syria and Iraq.

Of course, the presence of Westerners has grown, too. If they are not studying Arabic, they most probably work for an NGO, or perhaps a media organisation.

Rent and food prices in some areas have increased considerably, both in modern neighbourhoods of Amman and in cities such as Mafraq, given the number of refugees and NGO workers living there.

These issues are all sticky points for Jordan.

There is discontent with government action, but also a fast-growing hatred towards IS that has surely been cemented since the news about Muath’s death broke.

Jordan is now involved with IS in a way it never imagined it would be and probably never wanted to be.

Catherine Ellis,
Amman