‘A Threat to National Unity’ – Football in Jordan: Ethnic Divisive or a Political Tool for the Regime?

Abstract

In Jordan, national identity is composed of two sub-national identities: the Transjordanian identity of Jordan's indigenous inhabitants from east of the Jordan river, and the Palestinians originating in the west of the Jordan river. Historically, the Jordanian throne has maintained power through an alliance with the Transjordanians. As the majority of the Jordanians are of Palestinian origin, democratisation in Jordan would likely imply the Palestinians taking over the political momentum in the country. When unrest has erupted in Jordan, as during the democracy protests of the Arab Spring, this has on some occasions been labelled as threats to the national unity by the Jordanian monarchy. No one wants to return to the civil war of 1970. On the other hand, to avoid democratisation, the memory of the civil war must be sustained. Since the civil war, Jordan has had a history of ethnic-based football riots. These are reminders of the threats to stability, security and national unity. But as long as they are contained at the football stadiums, they serve the interests of political forces wanting to preserve power and political status quo.