Jordanians Grapple With Sadness And Frustration Citizens Condemn Shooting Of Girls But Vent Feelings About Tense Political Situation
Silence descended Friday on the rundown family home of Ahmed Moussa Daqamseh.
Police turned away the curious. Neighbors clammed up, apparently aware of police orders not to discuss Daqamseh, the Jordanian soldier who shot seven young Israelis to death the day before.
Regional police gave the reason: “It’s very sensitive,” one said. “It’s a matter between states.”
Ubdur, a quiet community with pastoral views of the Golan Heights and Israel, has become the focal point of a drama with far-reaching implications, the deepening crisis in the once-warm relationship between Israel and Jordan.
Reports here indicated that Daqamseh, a driver in the Jordanian army, had a history of mental instability. But the shooting at the Bakoura border post also came against a backdrop of deep Jordanian frustration and growing anger with Israel over issues ranging from the Jewish state’s perceived intransigence in dealings with Jordan and the Palestinians to the fact that Jordan’s own 1994 peace treaty with Israel has brought little economic benefit.
“Even if he is psychologically unstable, this doesn’t erase the fact that (the shooting) happened in a political context,” said Jordanian political analyst Rami Khouri. “After all, he shot Israelis, not Syrians or Egyptians.”
Khouri and other Jordanians interviewed Friday expressed sadness over the deaths of the seven schoolgirls, calling Daqamseh’s sudden attack on the teenagers a senseless tragedy. And several said they would support the idea of a condolence visit by King Hussein to the families of the bereaved to reflect the sorrow of his nation.
“Perhaps there is not a person on Earth who did not have feelings for these people,” said a man who gave his name as Abu Haithem, standing in a group outside a metal-working shop in the village of Mansura. “It was shameful.”
In the shooting’s emotional aftermath, several Israeli officials indirectly linked the attack to the Jordanian monarch’s recent harsh criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his policies toward the Palestinians.
But the king, clearly shaken by Thursday’s violence, and the official Jordanian media - which follow his lead - have changed their tone. No political statements have been allowed to intrude on the official expressions of grief.
Unofficially, however, many Jordanians, while condemning the shooting, said they can understand how the growing tensions between Israel and Jordan, and the anger and disappointment on this side of the border, might lead an unstable person to commit such an act.
“The atmosphere has become very tense,” said Ibrahim Izzaddin, a former Jordanian Cabinet minister and onetime ambassador to Washington.
“People here realize that Israel is not even abiding by the Oslo agreements (between Israel and the Palestinians), which themselves were not well-received in the Arab world. There’s a real frustration.”