Amman, Jordan – Over the weekend, an unusual calm filled the square outside al-Husseini Mosque in the bustling downtown area of Jordan’s capital.The location, sandwiched between a commercial thoroughfare and a busy intersection, has been the site of weekly raucous pro-Palestinian protests since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Ahmed, a 50-year-old bookkeeper who runs a shop located on the route protesters usually traverse, told Al Jazeera that the subdued atmosphere was due to the “shock and despair” caused by Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and the death of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
However, this coming weekend, he said, after Friday prayers, this sentiment will have given way to anger and frustration, resulting in what he expects to be a huge turnout.
The televised speech by Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem on Monday, the first appearance by a Hezbollah official since Nasrallah’s death, has also given people in Jordan renewed optimism that the Lebanese group remains a “fighting force” Ahmed said.
Demonstrators participate in a protest supporting Palestinians in Gaza in Amman, Jordan on August 23, 2024 [Jehad Shelbak/Reuters]
United against Israeli aggression
Ahmed recalls the 2006 July War between Israel and Hezbollah when he said the vast majority of Jordanians supported the armed group.
Now, Hezbollah’s support for the Damascus regime in the Syrian civil war has diminished support for it in the country.
Still, there are pockets of vocal support for the group. On Saturday, protesters gathered outside the al-Kalouti Mosque near the Israeli embassy in Amman, …
