Jordan: Demands for Response to Libya Answered · Global Voices
Betsy Fisher

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
During the mass demonstrations in Tunisia and then in Egypt, Jordanians held demonstrations in solidarity, and posted numerous blogs and innumerable tweets about these events.  The uprising in Libya has been no exception to this pattern; Jordanians have pro-actively re-tweeted information on the Libyan uprising and expressed their support for the Libyan people.  By February 22nd, as the violence in Libya grew, Jordanians began to wonder why their government had not issued a response condemning Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi.
Ahmad Omari wrote:
#ReformJo The silence of all arab gov's and the world on the massacre happening in libya by the lunatic Gadhafi and his son is a DiSCRACE
Diana Arja worked to distance herself from the government's silence:
Samih Toukan addressed his question to the Foreign Minister of Jordan, Nasser Judeh:
FM of Jordan @nasserjudeh why are you silent about the genocide in #Libya ? #reformjo
Ruba Abu-Laban was among those to add her agreement to Toukan's question:
We've been asking the same Q since morning with no reply RT @samihtoukan @nasserjudeh why r u silent about the genocide in #Libya? #reformjo
Razan Khatib complained:
Social media is the only space available to show our solidarity with the free people of the world as our govs stand silent. #Libya #ReformJo
Suleiman Bakhit provided a possible explanation for the government's silence:
Our govt primary concern is 10k #Jo citizens in #Libya, condemning #Qaddafi now would put their safety at risk #reformjo
And, their questions received a response, from Foreign Minister Judeh's twitter account.  He replied:
our position on tragic events in Libya very clear. Prioirty is ensuring safety and safe return of our Jordanians there #jo #reformjo
Soon, Jordan did indeed issue a statement rejecting Libyan violence.
Ali Abu-Nimah was among the first to tweet the news:
Jordan strongly condemns Libya's attacks on civilians, says they violate international law (AR) http://t.co/foMgaKX #JO #ReformJO
Jordanians continue to tweet in solidarity with Libyans under the hashtags #feb17, #libya and their own pro-reform hashtag, #reformjo.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.