By Courtney Bliler
On the evening of Tuesday, February 3, I entered a café on Sharia Al-Thaqafah, one of the main thoroughfares of the Shmeisani neighborhood of Amman, expecting to find the gentle hum of the deserted café; however, to my surprise, the shop was packed with Jordanians and all eyes were glued to the nightly news which bore tragic news: Muath al-Kasasbeh, the Royal Jordanian Air Force Pilot shot down in Syria in December 2014 and subsequently taken hostage by ISIS, had been burnt alive by ISIS. Although intelligence reports have since indicated that ISIS actually killed Muath on January 3, this video of Muath’s immolation, released by ISIS on 3 February, was the first official confirmation of his death.
Jordan has long been a bastion of stability amidst the geopolitical tempests that rage throughout the rest of the Middle East. But, with the immolation of Muath, this small Arab kingdom has now been thrust into the spotlight. Amidst these recent torrents, the response from the Jordanian public has been swift, resolute and overwhelmingly unified.
On Friday, February 6 after weekly prayers, thousands of Jordanians marched in unison from the al-Husseini mosque through downtown Amman to the Friday Market at Ras Al-Ain. Queen Rania joined with protesters, holding pictures in memoriam of Muath and displaying banners that denounced ISIS’s savagery. Similar demonstrations took place throughout the country, including Al-Karak, the home city of Muath and his family. The immolation of Muath has alienated many Muslims who might have sympathized with ISIS’s cause, while jihadi clerics have soundly castigated ISIS’s actions as being unacceptable in any religion. It seems that any qualms that Jordanians harbored about their country’s involvement in the international coalition against ISIS have evaporated, at least in the immediate aftermath of the immolation.
The Jordanian government’s response has been just as robust. It bolstered its role in the international coalition and on February 8 claimed that it has bombed ISIS 56 times in just three days.[i] King Abdullah pledged to avenge Muath’s death and the Jordanian Foreign Minister proclaimed that the fight against ISIS has become Jordan’s war. General Mansour al-Jabour, head of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, has claimed that ISIS has lost 20 percent of its military capabilities since the start of coalition air strikes in September 2014.[ii] In late January, ISIS admitted defeat in the Turkey-Syria border town of Kobani, and an attack by the U.S. and Iraq to retake Mosul is imminent. Given these recent setbacks, ISIS’s crude murder of Muath may have been an attempt to dispel rumors of its military atrophy and reassert its power to the international community.
ISIS’s actions have galvanized both the Jordanian public and government against it more so than any other previous act of extremism. Undoubtedly, the murder of Muath has effectively transformed the fight against ISIS from an international air raid campaign into a war that will probably and eventually be borne by Jordanians, Arabs and Muslims. Jordan now occupies a prominent leadership role in the bombings in Syria and Iraq. Moreover, while currently focused on destroying ISIS, Jordan may eventually adopt a more proactive and leading role in the fight against all forms of Islamic extremism in the region. Today, the walls of shops and police booths are plastered with images of the now-martyred Muath, underscoring the deep and enduring impact his death will have on the population.
[i] Ben Tufft, “Jordan has launched 56 air strikes against ISIS in three days in response to brutal murder of pilot, says air force chief,” The Independent, 8 February 2015, Web. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jordan-has-launched-56-air-strikes-against-isis-in-three-days-in-response-to-brutal-murder-of-pilot-says-air-force-chief-10032024.html.
[ii] “Jordan: ISIS lost 20% of its military capabilities,” Al Arabiya News (English), 8 February 2015, Web. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/02/08/Jordan-ISIS-lost-20-of-its-military-capabilities.html.
