(Photo credit: Palestinian Information Center)
Thousands took to the streets in Jordan’s capital Amman on 11 November to protest the UAE-brokered “water for energy” agreement, which was renewed a few days ago between Israel and the Hashemite kingdom.
Protesters called for the Jordanian National Forum to resist all forms of normalization with Israel, including the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty signed in 1994 — known as the Wadi Araba agreement — which ended all land and water disputes between the two states.
من مشاركتنا في الوقفة التي دعت إليها الحملة الوطنيةلإسقاط اتفاقيةالغاز مع الكيان الصهيوني(#غاز_العدو_احتلال)ظهر أمس الجمعة،في ساحةالمسجد الحسيني وسط البلد ردًّا على الإمعان في مشروع صهينة الأردن والإعلان عن توقيع اتفاقيّةجديدة مع الصهاينةلتسريع تنفيذ مشروع"الكهرباء مقابل الماء" pic.twitter.com/NDuTfbaiy8
— اتحرّك (@Move_Boycott) November 12, 2022
The protestors began their march near Amman’s Husseini Mosque and made their way to Al-Nakhil Square. Jordanian security forces were deployed heavily throughout.
Demonstrators chanted slogans condemning normalization and calling out what they referred to as “a continuation of tampering with the constitution.”
غضب شعبي متصاعد في #الأردن، ومظاهرات في عدة مدن، رفضًا لتوقيع مذكرة تفاهم لاتفاقية #الماء_مقابل_الكهرباء، بين الأردن وكيان الاحتلال والإمارات.#غاز_العدو_احتلال#ماء_العدو_احتلال pic.twitter.com/eXxewTjX0M
— مقاطعة (@Boycott4Pal) November 11, 2022
The agreement, initially proposed last year, was renewed on 8 November in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, under the auspices of Abu Dhabi. It requires Jordan to construct a 600-megawatt solar energy capacity for export into Israel, in exchange for a yearly 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water for the Hashemite kingdom.
The project has sparked widespread discontent, not only among citizens, but government officials as well.
On 8 December of last year, dozens of Jordanian MPs walked out of parliament in rejection of the agreement, which had been signed the month before.
Speaking out against the agreement in a press statement on 11 November, Jordanian MP Musa Hantash said: “International pressure is being exerted on Jordan to abandon its identity, distort its compass, and force it to sign the water-for-electricity agreement with the occupation, despite the existence of alternatives.”
“The National Carrier project will provide Jordanians with 300 million cubic meters of water, while Jordan will get 200 million cubic meters from the new agreement with the occupation,” he added.
Hantash was referring to a Jordanian project aimed at desalinating water from Aqaba Bay and transporting it across different regions of the country. The project was scheduled by the Hashemite monarchy to begin in 2024, and end four years later.