Echoes of Resistance: Jordanian Girl’s Arrest Evokes Memories of Tahrir Square
Watan-Social media platforms in Jordan and Arab countries have ignited with widespread anger following the circulation of a video documenting the dragging and arrest of a Jordanian girl by security forces while she was participating in demonstrations in support of Gaza in Jordan.
The shocking scene of the Jordanian security forces assaulting the young protester immediately brought back memories of the famous scene from Egypt in 2011, where an Egyptian girl was dragged in Tahrir Square following the January revolution during the sit-in at the Cabinet headquarters at the time.
The scenes of girls being dragged in Egypt and Jordan are reminiscent
Activists shared the shocking footage of Jordanian security forces dragging the girl by her arms and legs, assaulting her with beatings, and arresting her.
This scene was compared to a similar incident of the dragging of the “Girl of Tahrir” in Egypt during the sit-in at the Cabinet headquarters at the end of 2011, the year of the January revolution which ousted the rule of the late President Hosni Mubarak.
سحل الفتاة الأردنية في مظاهرة أمس على يد 3رجال سحبوها في نص الشارع ثم اعتقلوها تسبب في صدمة لشعب #الأردن المحافظ الذي يبدو أنه لم يشاهد هذا من قبل، لكن نحن شاهدناه وشاهدنا كشوف العذرية وشاهدنا التحرش والاغتصاب في المعتقلات. شاهدوا يا عالم ماذا فعل عسكر مصر الفجرة بشبابها وفتياتها pic.twitter.com/xE9tQvHmAB
— المجلس الثوري المصري (@ERC_egy) March 31, 2024
In this context, Egyptian activist Hussam Yahya wrote: “For those surprised by the dragging of a Jordanian protester by security forces in Amman, the Egyptian army along with military police dragged and stripped an Egyptian protester during the dispersal of the Cabinet headquarters sit-in in December 2011.”
“Assaulting the girls is a disgrace”
In light of this shocking footage from Jordan showing the dragging and arrest of a girl for participating in demonstrations supporting Gaza alongside thousands of Jordanians, the hashtag “Assaulting the girls is a disgrace” trended on the “X” platform, amidst angry comments and reactions.
Despite the assaults and the spread of footage of their suppression by Jordanian security forces, Jordanian women resumed protesting and participating in besieging the Israeli embassy on Sunday.
It’s worth noting that the girl who was assaulted by the army in Egypt during the sit-in at the Cabinet headquarters in 2011 was later identified as “Ghada Kamal,” a pharmacist and activist in the April 6 Movement.
Regarding what happened to her in this scene, Ghada Kamal, the “Girl of Tahrir,” affirmed at the time that what happened to her and others was even more brutal than what the images depicted.
السحل والاعتقال كرمال عيون الحاخام#الأردن pic.twitter.com/jSZzGGcyb8
— بلال نزار ريان (@BelalNezar) March 30, 2024
At that time, images of the assault on Ghada by the army during the clashes that shook Tahrir Square in central Cairo on Friday, December 16, 2011, spread like wildfire in local and international media.
It’s also worth mentioning that despite the severe security crackdown, protests returned in front of the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, with larger crowds, noticeable organization, high ceilings, demanding and costly slogans that questioned the official Jordanian position.
Jordanian protesters demanded the king and the government to take real and serious steps towards the brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip.
