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Jordan: Reactions to Ben Ali's Removal from ‘Angry Jordanians’

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Jordan, Tunisia, Digital Activism, Economics & Business, Protest

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011 [1].

Tunisia's month-long protests over economic and participation disenfranchisement culminated in President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fleeing with his family to Saudi Arabia, installing [2] in his place Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi. The same day, Jordanians held their Day of Anger, also reacting against increased prices and frustration with political stagnation. Upon hearing of Ben Ali's departure, Jordanians reacted in celebration. Mahmoud Lattouf wrote [3]:

http://bit.ly/hPVdCj للشعب التونسي.. شكرا #SidiBouzid #Tunis #Tunisia
To the people of Tunisia… thank you.

Ashraf Shakah rejoiced [4]:

non Islamic neither Leftist, not endorsed by the “West” nor designed by CIA, it is simply #Free #Tunisia #SidiBouzid

Others directly connected the events in Tunisia to the rest of the Arab world. Wael Attili [5] said:

Moral of the story: Enough bullshit!! To all Arab regimes, if you promise reform then you better do it.. #Tunisia #Arab

And others linked [6] the event explicitly to Jordan, referencing Jordan's Prime Minister Samir Al-Rifai. From context, Jordanian tweeters are not asking for a change in monarchy, but rather more concern on increasing prices, and in some cases, a change in the government led by Al-Rifai:

Bin Ali can you take samir alrifai with you please ? #angryjordan #betterjordan #jo #amman

Hana Al-Moghrabi wrote [7]:

@forbes19 we did have our anger day here in Jordan . so Yes we are MENA ‘s Face is changing #JO #AngryJordan #Tunisa is the beginning

Yassar Burgan sought [8]to urge caution:

let's not get carried away n confuse things! Leadership in #Jo is loved n respected. Economic difficulties r across the world

He added [8]:

@LahibBaniSakher People cannot demand more subsidies and less taxes, when country has limited resources. #Jo is not #KSA @octavianas

Another reaction to Tunisia's governmental changes came from Queen Rania al-Abdullah, who tweeted [9]:

Closely watching developments in #Tunisia and praying for stability and calm for its people.

Jordanians continue to join the #sidibouzid Twitter conversation (covering the events in Tunisia), as well as their own #angryjordan hashtag.

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011 [1].