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Jordan: Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood Acting to Foment Chaos in Kingdom in Service of Iran
(MEMRI) Since Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack and the war in Gaza, Jordan has seen a surge in popular support for Hamas and hostility towards Israel, which are expressed in many anti-Israel demonstrations and in explicit calls to confront it and wage jihad against it. Recently there has been an increase in the size and intensity of these demonstrations, which are organized primarily by the Muslim Brotherhood. One of the main protest sites is around the Israeli embassy in Amman, where thousands of young men gather every evening after the iftar (Ramadan end-of-fast meal) to "besiege the embassy building." The masses call to revoke the peace agreement with Israel, sever relations with it, and open the border crossings between the two countries "in order to let the young Jordanians help their brethren in Palestine." The protesters also express support for Hamas, praise its military commanders Muhammad Deif, Yahya Sinwar and Abu Obeida, extol the Oct. 7 attack and the armed struggle against Israel, and call to expel the American ambassador from Jordan. Calls of rebellion against the king have been heard as well. The recent escalation of protests in Jordan coincides with calls addressed to the Jordanian people by Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood officials in Jordan who urged Jordanians to escalate their protests and join the fight against Israel in order to "mingle their blood with that of the Palestinians," as Hamas' leader Khaled Mash'al put it. This incitement of the Jordanian public by Hamas has enraged the Jordanian establishment. Jordan, it appears, perceives that the incitement is carried out in the service of Iran, which seeks to overthrow the Jordanian regime and open up another front against Israel in Jordan. In recent months, there have been growing concerns in Jordan regarding subversive Iranian action within the kingdom. Articles in the Jordanian press stated that the protests in Jordan are the product of a plot by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood against the kingdom.