Jordan Sentences Four to 20 Years for Allegedly Aiding Palestinian Resistance
Despite no charges of threatening Jordan’s security, four young men received harsh sentences for attempting to send weapons to the West Bank—fueling public outrage and accusations of Israeli-Jordanian intelligence coordination.
Watan–In a shocking precedent, Jordan’s State Security Court sentenced four Jordanian men to 20 years of hard labor, accusing them of attempting to manufacture weapons on behalf of a “third party.” The defendants—Ibrahim Jaber, Hudhayfa Jabr, Khaled Al-Majdalawi, and Ahmad Ayesh—were not charged with threatening Jordan’s internal security. In fact, all evidence pointed to a single aim: supporting the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank against Israeli occupation.
According to their defense attorney, the court completely ignored that the defendants had no intention of using the weapons inside Jordan. Their stated goal was to smuggle them into the occupied Palestinian territories to aid resistance factions. Nonetheless, the court labeled them a “security threat,” even as the Jordanian regime continues to turn a blind eye to escalating Israeli activities along both its eastern and western borders.
More troublingly, these arrests were reportedly conducted in direct coordination between Jordanian intelligence and Israel’s Shin Bet (Shabak)—a move that triggered widespread condemnation from political circles and the general public. Activists saw it as evidence of deep intelligence cooperation targeting even humanitarian support for Gaza.
في #الأردن.. عقوبة قاسية بـ 20 عامًا سجنًا مع الأشغال الشاقة، لتثبيط أي محاولة أو تفكير في دعم فلسـ*ـطـ&ـين.. هل أصبح دعم المـ&ـقاو*مة أو التفكير في ذلك جريـ&ـمة يستحق أصحابها الاعتقال سنوات طويلة خلف القضبان؟
رسالة قاسية وصريحة من النظام بأن من يجـرؤ على الوقوف مع الحـ&ـق، حتى… pic.twitter.com/LUo7IowoFm
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) April 30, 2025
Jordan’s Harsh Sentences Spark Outrage Over Pro-Palestine Crackdown
Jordanian citizens expressed strong discontent with the harshness of the sentences, especially when similar charges in Israel result in only 5 to 8 years of prison time. One viral comment summed up the sentiment: “The occupier is more merciful than our brothers.”
Amid this outrage, criticism continues to mount over Amman’s growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, while simultaneously expanding normalization and security coordination with Tel Aviv.
So the question emerges:
Has supporting the Palestinian cause become a punishable offense for Arabs in their own countries?
Or are we now entering an era where every voice for Palestine is at risk of criminalization?
