Activism / StudentNation / May 10, 2024

Students at Universities Across Jordan Are Protesting for Gaza

For months, thousands have flooded the country’s streets in protest. But students say that the surge of encampments in America helped increase actions at Jordanian universities.

Esther Sun
Demonstration held in Jordan to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
People in Amman, Jordan, gather to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza in April 2024.(Laith Al-jnaidi / Getty)

In Amman, Jordan, about an hour away from the West Bank, the Palestinian cause hits close to home. For months, thousands of people have flooded the streets every Friday in protest near the Israeli embassy and the King Hussein Mosque at the center of the capital city. 

Recently, however, there has been a marked shift. On April 30, dozens of Jordanian students gathered in protest, waving Palestinian flags and donning keffiyehs, at university campuses across the country—Hussein bin Talal University in Ma’an, Mu’tah University in Mu’tah, Yarmouk University in Irbid, and Al-Zaytoonah University in Amman. And on May 1, students staged protests at the Hashemite University in Zarqa and the University of Applied Sciences in Amman.

“We have relatives who lived through the Nakba or the war in 1967 or other wars,” said Tereza, who goes by a pseudonym due to likely retaliation from her university. Tereza is a third-year engineering student and a leading organizer within the Student Forum for Supporting the Resistance—the nationwide coalition of student groups calling for such protests. “We see the struggle that the Palestinians go through. Being a Jordanian, I think it’s special to us,” she said. “It’s a part of who you are to fight for the liberation of Palestine.”

Jordan hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees—the world’s largest Palestinian diasporic group overall—and has a strategic partnership with Israel that has long fomented discontent. More than half of its population are of Palestinian origin, and even Jordan’s Queen Rania has Palestinian roots.

“We left our land and came here,” said Mays Abuajamieh, a Jordanian-Palestinian student who arrived for a planned protest at the University of Jordan before it was postponed after the arrest of a key organizer. Mays’s family migrated to Jordan from the West Bank city of Hebron in 1948 during the Nakba—the displacement and dispossession of millions of Palestinians by the Israeli army. “Why am I here [to protest] today? Because I always feel helpless about doing anything for Palestine. Gaza is dying every day.”

Current Issue

Cover of April 2025 Issue

Though Gaza protests have been held on university campuses in the past, Jordanians have staged the majority of their demonstrations in the streets because of the retaliation from universities and authorities against pro-Palestinian student activists. Most of Tereza’s colleagues in Tajdeed, a leftist organization within the Student Forum, have been arrested and given warnings, she said. Some have been expelled.

Jordanian student protestors have been critical of the American government’s support for Israel and, in turn, their own government’s global partnerships. At the Hashemite University protest on May 1, chants described America as being complicit in Israel’s violence. But students say that the recent encampments for Gaza on American college campuses helped energize the Jordanian protests. “The government and the administrations are not allowed to prevent students from free speech inside the campus,” said Tereza. “But the movement in America broke this fear…. It sparked a new hope for us to continue this fight.”

“We have closely observed the successive events and unpredictable movements unfolding in American universities, advocating for the Palestinian cause and expressing solidarity with Gaza and its resistance,” wrote the Student Forum in its public statement calling for nationwide protests in universities. “This commendable initiative, which has resonated in over 30 American universities, has now transcended borders.”

The statement also called on Jordanian universities to condemn “all forms of violence” against students in American and other international universities, and to retract punishments faced by Jordanian students for their support of Gaza.

“I take immense pride in the global protests supporting Gaza, especially those in America,” Sia Sawan, another University of Jordan student who came for the May 1 protest, told The Nation. According to Tereza, the Student Forum’s next steps involve forming educational initiatives on campuses to further raise awareness about the Palestinian cause. “It’s truly heartwarming and gives us the pride to continue our efforts,” said Sawan. “What’s happening in Gaza is absolutely heartbreaking, and as human beings, it’s our duty to do our absolute best to help stop this crisis.”

Support independent journalism that exposes oligarchs and profiteers


Donald Trump’s cruel and chaotic second term is just getting started. In his first month back in office, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?) have proven that nothing is safe from sacrifice at the altar of unchecked power and riches.

Only robust independent journalism can cut through the noise and offer clear-eyed reporting and analysis based on principle and conscience. That’s what The Nation has done for 160 years and that’s what we’re doing now.

Our independent journalism doesn’t allow injustice to go unnoticed or unchallenged—nor will we abandon hope for a better world. Our writers, editors, and fact-checkers are working relentlessly to keep you informed and empowered when so much of the media fails to do so out of credulity, fear, or fealty.

The Nation has seen unprecedented times before. We draw strength and guidance from our history of principled progressive journalism in times of crisis, and we are committed to continuing this legacy today.

We’re aiming to raise $25,000 during our Spring Fundraising Campaign to ensure that we have the resources to expose the oligarchs and profiteers attempting to loot our republic. Stand for bold independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Esther Sun

Esther Sun is a journalist based in New York City. She previously served as editor of City News at the Columbia Daily Spectator.

More from The Nation

Columbia University Mahmoud Khalil Protest

Mahmoud Khalil’s Detainment Won’t Stop the Pro-Palestine Student Movement Mahmoud Khalil’s Detainment Won’t Stop the Pro-Palestine Student Movement

The reverberations of Khalil’s arrest are being felt beyond Columbia University’s campus.

StudentNation / Lara-Nour Walton

Mahmoud Khalil, a student negotiator during the protests at Columbia University against the Gaza genocide, speaks to the press on April 29, 2024.

Mahmoud Khalil Is the First Activist to Be Disappeared by Trump Mahmoud Khalil Is the First Activist to Be Disappeared by Trump

The detention and attempted deportation of Khalil is a test by Trump to see how far he can go—and a test for us to see how hard we will fight back.

Laura Jedeed

Students staging a sit-in at Milstein Library on March 5.

Columbia Expelled Student Protesters For the First Time in Over 50 Years. But Activists Won’t Back Down. Columbia Expelled Student Protesters For the First Time in Over 50 Years. But Activists Won’t Back Down.

On March 5, protesters were arrested after dozens formed a sit-in at Milstein Library to demand the reinstatement of three expelled students.

StudentNation / Lara-Nour Walton

CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars

CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars

Faculty at Hunter College submitted a revised job listing after Governor Hochul told the school to remove one that used the terms “settler colonialism,” “genocide,” and “apartheid...

StudentNation / Luca GoldMansour

Backlash or Blacklist? Hollywood’s Pro-Gaza Protesters Feel the Heat

Backlash or Blacklist? Hollywood’s Pro-Gaza Protesters Feel the Heat Backlash or Blacklist? Hollywood’s Pro-Gaza Protesters Feel the Heat

In whisper campaigns and puzzling career reversals, pro-Palestinian actors say that they're being punished for speaking out.

Ben Schwartz

After a North Carolina Election Loss, Amazon Union Organizers Must Think Bigger, Bolder

After a North Carolina Election Loss, Amazon Union Organizers Must Think Bigger, Bolder After a North Carolina Election Loss, Amazon Union Organizers Must Think Bigger, Bolder

Local organizers built a multiracial, multigenerational union with grassroots energy and tenacity. But Amazon is too big to beat through site-by-site organizing and striking.

Jonathan Rosenblum