MyAdhan Blog

Link: Jordanians Said Using SMS Messages, E-Mail to Complain About Rising Prices

Jordanians have been recently exchanging SMS messages on their mobile phones to express their displeasure and hardship as a result of the raise of fuel prices and the consequent rise in the standards of living. They have also been sending e-mail messages to vent their feelings and protest. While hundreds of thousands of Jordanians have exchanged these messages, the opposition parties have failed to assemble a few dozen people to stage sit-ins to protest the rising prices. Most probably, Jordanians have been going through a stage of “horror” for more than a month due to the rise in standards of living as a result of raising fuel prices and the impact of the decline in the US economy on the local currency, which is pegged to the dollar. They found that expressing their displeasure over what is happening through SMS messages is less costly, from the security and social aspects, than participating in sit-ins and marches to express protests. In their text messages, Jordanians refer to oil and gas as precious commodities, saying that getting these is an unattainable dream. They also tell jokes about the decisions related to raising prices, while speaking about the future in a way that reflects the great frustration they are experiencing. One of the text messages says the following: “discoveries…the stone age: discovery of fire; iron age, discovery of iron; modern age, discovery of oil; the golden [dhahabi, also the name of the current prime minister] age (a reference to the government of Nadir al-Dhahabi), oil is on fire and we are again Ala al-Hadidah [on iron]. Ala al-Hadidah is a slang Jordanian expression meaning very poor. Another message quotes from a tradition by the Prophet, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, in which he asks people not to overspend, to speak about the rise of fuel prices. The message says “do not overspend in the use of three items: gas, kerosene, and electricity. Narrated by a Muslim who is feeling very cold,” in a reference to the cold that is hitting Jordanian homes because of their inability to get fuel for their heaters.