Need for effective change

On November 16, 2015, in this same space, I wrote an article in which I talked about the recurrence of social protests and said that the “Hirak” protest movement can be expected to be reborn. 

Recently, Jordan has witnessed some protests in Theban, near Madaba. 

It is important to analyse these protests scientifically, in order to understand their reasons. Moreover, it is important to look at these protests from a wider perspective, not limited to the idea of service-demands or asking for job opportunities.

Decision makers need to get out of the state of denial and tackle the problems efficiently.

Since 2001, problems in Jordan have not been solved resourcefully, but were postponed. 

Problems stayed latent; they are always there and the simplest issue could prompt them to come to the surface, as we witnessed in Maan, where protest are almost turned to serious clashes.

No one can ignore the clear signs of failure of the process of development in many Jordanian cities. Therefore, it would be much better to face the problems courageously and work on effecting concrete change instead of living in a bubble that prevents us, Jordanians, from seeing all signs of present and future risks.

On the other hand, it would be wrong to keep linking the protests with poor living conditions; they are also a matter of political rights, a call for social justice, equality and the youth’s struggle to assume their legitimate role in building their future.

To deal with these problems, there needs to be a complete transformation in the way politics are run, especially when seeing that no change was achieved after years of uprising and chaos in the region.

In Jordan, the same people are dominating the political scene, leaving the youth with no hope that they will have an opportunity to participate in building their society. 

Today, the level of violence is noticeably increasing, and any problem might easily turn into bloody clashes.

The other risk is that Jordan has already entered the phase of open confrontation with terrorism, so it is very critical for the country to manage any internal crisis wisely.

Raising questions about the challenge the Jordanian society is facing would be a good starting point. Also, it is important to be aware and prepared for the challenges posed to the country’s security, most importantly the continuous growth of radicalisation.

There is an urgent need to act concretely, with new tools, faces and language that can provide real solutions to the pending problems and counter extremist ideologies and the waves of radicalism that are coming closer to our shores.

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