Update on Protests II

Last night we got another email from the State Department via CIEE that says that all US citizens in Jordan should avoid unnecessary travel throughout Jordan due to protests and road blocks that occure with no way to predict when or where.

This morning we learned about the riots last night.

At least one person has died and a further 16 people have been injured in two separate shooting incidents in Jordan on 14 November. One person, a suspected assailant, was killed and at least 12 police officers were injured after unidentified gunmen allegedly stormed a police station in the Al Wasatiyyeh area, located outside the city of Irbid. In a similar incident near the capital, Amman, one police officer sustained serious injuries following gunfire in the vicinity of the Shafa Badran police station.

Further information came this afternoon around 4:00.  We were warned that more demonstrations might be happening in the same place, Dakhiliyya Circle, and we needed to not only avoind those areas but also Jabel Hussein and Jabel al-Qala'a as well as downtown. They warned that the protests are so inpredictable that we should also avoid other places such as the University of Jordan, Sports City and 4th circle.

Our next email came around 9:00pm.  This one started off with a rather different phrase "Today has been 'relatively' calm in Amman" but then in the same sentence returned to the norm by saying "but things are very intense outside of (Amman)."  It went on to say that at the time the email was sent there were some very intense protests going on.  The email also explained that the earlier part of the day might have been more calm because people were resting from the past two nights and also preparing for tomorrow.

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), have called for anti-government protests in central Amman and near mosques across the country on 16 November. The protests will centre on a recent controversial decision to drop subsidies on oil products.

On Fridays here in Amman there are usually protests downtown.  We know about them and where they are and to avoid them.  It has become second nature to us.  As this email, received around 11:30pm tonight, details, tomorrow will be a little different.

So you all know the drill for Fridays, especially when a major protest is on.

This week things are obviously shaping up to be rather unique.  We don't know for sure what will happen or where, but it could be a rough day.

As you know, usually we know the exact place and pathway of any demonstration.  This time we don't.  We know there will be at least one originating in front of Husseini mosque downtown.  It will likely be huge, both in terms of numbers of participants and security personnel.

But there could be others in other parts of the city.  Dakhiliyya, Jabal Hussein, in front of UJ, in front of the Israeli Embassy in Rabieh, 4th Circle...these are all possibilities.  We just don't know.

So here's some additional advice for tomorrow:  get up early, get outside and enjoy the sunshine for a little while, run some errands, drink coffee and eat breakfast with your friends.  And then be back home by late morning and just hang out there for the rest of the day.  Relax, take naps, do homework, watch movies, go online.  Just stay at home or close to it most of tomorrow.

Again, please don't panic.  You're not under house arrest, and you're not in any danger.  Tomorrow is just more unpredictable than usual, and having a chill day at home greatly lessens the risk that you could find yourself in the middle of protest activity.

Our final email for the night was mostly just a forwarded email from a security organization here in Amman.  It reads as follows:

Rioting has resumed in a number of areas of southern Jordan during the evening of 15 November. Clashes between the police and rioters in Tafileh, near the local governorate headquarters, have left at least four security force officials wounded. Unrest has also been reported in the al-Marj district of Karak. In Maan, demonstrators have blocked roads and clashed with the police leaving at least one person wounded.

So there you have it, all that I know about whats going on here in Amman.  This doesn’t even include whats going on next door with Israel and Gaza so needless to say this is an exciting area of the world to be in right now.  Tomorrow should be exciting