LETTER FROM BEIRUT
Even for the most jaded Jordanians, accustomed to the macho folklore of celebratory shootings, the images broadcast on the kingdom’s social networks on the evening of November 11 were a shock.
Machine gun bursts can be seen streaking the darkness, as if they were tracking an invisible plane. A man in scarves, standing on the roof of a pick-up, a rifle at the end of his arm, spitting out sprays of fire in the night. Another emptying the charger of his Kalashnikov, in a crackle of hell, above a crowd of onlookers dancing for joy. We even see a boy, equipped with an M16 taller than him, who pulls in the sky as if he were at the fun fair.
From north to south, from Jerash to Ma’an, passing through the suburbs of Amman, these scenes of anarchy repeated themselves. The reason for this giant vent? The publication of the results of the elections, organized the day before, to the Majlis al-Nuwab, the Jordanian assembly, endowed with very small legislative powers. “It was absolutely amazing”, says Noha Ahmed, a lawyer in Amman, who from the balcony of her apartment, overlooking a valley, witnessed all-out shootings. “Some were shooting because their champion had won, others were shooting because he had lost. It looked like war. We would have thought we were in Syria. “
The phenomenon of shooting for joy – or rage – is very common in certain rural or peri-urban regions of the Arab world, notably in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Jordan. This virile tribal ritual punctuates the great events of life, such as an electoral success, a marriage, a funeral or even the success of a child in the baccalaureate. At regular intervals, the authorities promise to crack down on this practice, which causes many deaths and injuries.
An arsenal worthy of an American blockbuster
They toughen legislation, launch awareness campaigns, and proclaim zero tolerance. In 2015, King Abdullah even said that if his son engaged in such acts, he would ask the authorities to deal with him. In vain. In April, a tragicomic video circulated on the Internet showing the return to his village of a man released from prison. As soon as he gets out of the car, the hero of the day is accidentally killed by his cousin, who came to greet him with gunshots in the air.
But this time around, the trigger fanatics may have gone too far. The arsenal exhibited in the videos, sometimes worthy of an American blockbuster, gave the whole country a cold sweat. “But where do all these weapons come from? exclaims Hani Rabie, a businessman from Amman. VSow is it possible that these people from poor and remote areas, like Ma’an, can afford to waste all these bullets, which are worth 3 dinars [3,50 euros] room ? “
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