Dinsdag jl. kondigde de eerste minister Abdullah Ensour verschillende maatregelen aan om het gat van 3.5 miljard dinar in de begroting op te vullen. De maatregelen omvatten o.a:
Zowel de energieprijs wordt verhoogd met bijna vijftig procent en benzine en Diesel met bijna 33 procent
De minister beweerde ook dat familie’s die een inkomen hebben van minder dan 800JD/mand niet zouden lijden onder de maatregelen omdat ze per persoon een tegemoetkoming van 70JD/maand gaan krijgen.
Net na de speech zijn de mensen de straat opgekomen in elke stad in Jordan (toen was het hier al 22.00). In de vroege uurtjes begon de politie de mensen weg te jagen met waterkanons. Er waren plaatselijk kleine opstootjes maar niks erg. Aan de benzinestations stonden de mensen in rijen aan te schuiven.
Gisteren was er dan in Amman een grote samenkomst fepland aan de “Dakhleya Circle” maar in de vroege namiddag werd die afgesloten door de politie en was elke samenkomst verboden. Maar de mensen zijn er toch op geraakt. Er zijn strubbelingen geweest met traangas en het waterkanon en toen zijn de mensen gevlucht naar Firas Circle in Jebel Hussein. Agenten in burger liepen rond om olie op het vuur te gooien en om mensen op te pakken.
In andere steden kwamen de mensen ook op straat: Madaba, Zarqa, Aqaba, Madaba, Irbid, Maan, Tafileh, Dhiban, Karak, Salt, Ramtha, Mafraq, Shobak.
In Amman waren de mensen aan het scanderen: “Freedom is from Allah, not from Abdallah”, “The people want the downfall of the system”. (el sh3ab yourid iskat al nidham), “”Hey Abdullah, don’t be fooled, look around and see what happened to your peers,”,
In de vooravond beweerde staatsgebonden media (Petra News & Amoun News) dat de mensen protesteerden omdat de premier enkele weken geleden besloten heeft om niet over te schakelen op het winteruur en dat de mensen daarop protesteerden. Een tweede persbericht beweerde dat de mensen op straat waren gekomen omdat het King Hussein z’n verjaardag was gisteren en dat ze voor hem kwamen.
In Irbid werd Qais El Omari neergeschoten. De overheid beweert dat hij deel uitmaakte van een gewapende bende die een politiebureau binnen viel. Na het neerschieten van Qais heeft z’n familie brand gesticht in het gebouw van de Baladiya (gemeentehuis).
In het zuiden van het land (waar er al lang ontevredenheid heerst) is de politie deze nacht vertrokken en is het leger paraat (stond op twitter).
Momenteel is alles rustig maar deze namiddag is er iets gepland in Irbid.
Video’s
Vannacht in Salt
Vannacht in Karak
Eerste avond van protest 13/11 op dakhleya Circle/Amman
Eerste avond in Dhiban
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=125047727650907
Eerste avond in Kerak
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=228793173918441
Video’s van Alexander Page (check wikipedia):
http://www.ustream.tv/alexanderpage#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9524019&utm_medium=social
Foto’s
Gisterennamiddag en vannacht op de Dakhleya Circle in Amman
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.296566953788562.59696.100003057783825&type=1
Gisterenavond nadat de meute was verplaatst naar Jebel Hussein
Eerste avond op dakhleya
http://www.flickr.com/photos/travellerw/sets/72157632003365698/
Eerste avond op Dakhleya
Eerste avond op Dakhleya
Blogposts
– http://eldahshan.com/2012/11/13/protest-amman/
Protest in Amman – live – photos
eerste avond
– Roundup van 7iber (Jordaanse Indymedia variant): http://www.7iber.com/2012/11/roundup-jordanians-react-fuel-price-hike/
Recent ontvangen blog:
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah
The scenes from my home over the past day and a half have been extremely disturbing. Police involvement has been minimal, and the mobs are ruling the streets.
It began Tuesday evening with trucks being forced to drop their loads on the roads, blocking them. Yesterday morning bulldozers arrived to clear them…. but by late morning, the real trouble started.
Youth set alight car tyres and set them on the road. They refused to allow cars to pass and pelted cars with rocks that tried to pass, smashing their windows.
As the day wore on, more and more youth converged on the area, and they extended their area of ‘rule’. More trucks were stopped, and if drivers refused to comply, they were dragged from their cabs and beaten. Street lights were torn down, trees uprooted… huge rocks pushed on to the roads to block them.
No police were seen here until late in the afternoon, when they came and spread tear gas, and then left again. Later in the evening they returned and did the same, but this time they were greeted with gunfire.
Several army vehicles drove through the area in a convoy. They were shot at repeatedly, and one of the vehicles has hit, smashing the windscreen. Other vehicles followed the lead of the army, and all were severely battered with rocks, often with windows smashed. There was no lighting in the area, which is usually lit with huge overhead spotlights and street lighting.
One unfortunate man tried to make it through but found the road blocked further up. He frantically tried to reverse back through the worst part of the road, but more traffic was trying to go forward, and a collision occurred. A huge semi-trailer was also coming. The truck driver panicked, and just continued to push forward, sending the man’s car into a ditch on the side of the road. By this time his car was completely battered. He left his vehicle, and begged the youth to come and help him. I honestly feared for his life.
Some of the same boys that had pelted his vehicle with rocks assisted him to get out of the ditch. He said he had travelled from Aqaba… poor man. They sent him back the way he came, refusing to allow him to continue on to Amman.
This is what I saw when I could stand to watch. Mostly I tried not to… the stress was just awful. To see such horrible scenes, and be helpless to do anything to help the poor people just trying to do their daily business or make it home.
I just can’t understand why the police did not cordon off the area. It was just so dangerous. Every person who passed this way was risking their life. So many windscreens and windows smashed. It is a wonder no one was killed. The damage cost in this area alone would be in the hundreds of thousands when you consider the hundreds of cars that were damaged. The streets look like a war zone. The economic cost would be huge… but I guess that is the point. So many trucks couldn’t pass.
As the night progressed, the gunfire increased. They just became more and more bold. I worry what today will bring. There must have been in excess of 200 youth and men involved here in my immediate area, with similar scenes and another group of youth further up the road towards Amman.
May Allah help, guide and protect us.
Wasalaam
Ummu
