Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Oman- The statements of Jordanian Minister of Culture Haifa Al-Najjar regarding the date of holding the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts in its 38th edition sparked widespread controversy among Jordanians, as the website of the local “Al-Mamlaka” channel quoted her as saying that the date of the Jerash Festival will be during this summer, on next July 24.
Only hours had passed after the news was announced until angry reactions came on social media platforms, criticizing the announcement of holding the festival in light of the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation against the people of the Gaza Strip, and demanding the cancellation of the festival this year.
A short time later, Minister Al-Najjar – who also holds the position of Chair of the Higher Committee of the Festival – retracted her previous announcement through another statement, in which she indicated that holding the Jerash Festival “is not considered a priority” as a result of the tragic conditions that the Palestinian people are going through.
Controversy of rejection and acceptance
Some analysts attributed the state of confusion in Minister Al-Najjar’s statements to the angry reactions to the intention to hold the Jerash Festival in light of the aggression that the Gaza Strip has been witnessing for 8 months. Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Member of the Jordanian Parliament, Hassan Al-Riyati, said that what is required is “to raise the level of our position regarding the massacres taking place in the Gaza Strip, and not for the Minister of Culture to come out and announce the start date of the Jerash Festival.”
Al-Riyati added, “We criticize anyone who holds a party in his home and his neighbor has a funeral, so how can we accept holding the Jerash Singing Festival when our people in Gaza are being slaughtered, and their blood has not yet dried.”
However, the former Dean of the Faculty of Media at Yarmouk University, Dr. Khalaf Al-Tahat, had a different opinion, as he stressed that the Jerash Festival is considered an opportunity for Jordan that can be invested and used to highlight and support the official and popular position sympathetic to what is happening in Gaza.
Al-Tahat said in a tweet on his account on the “X” website that the Jerash Festival could be a very important extension of the system of great Jordanian efforts, in addition to the political, diplomatic, relief, humanitarian and media efforts that Jordan has provided with high responsibility since the beginning of the attack on Gaza.
— Khalaf Tahat Dr. Khalaf the chefs (@khalaf_tahat) May 30, 2024
Dancing on wounds
For his part, former Jordanian Minister Dr. Bassam Al-Amoush said that Jordan is not against culture that is linked to science, but the circumstances now do not allow for “clowning in any form,” and he explained that there is a difference between culture, dancing, and singing, in light of the blood spilled daily in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, he added, asking, “What are we dancing to? Are we dancing to our wounds?” He stressed that the general circumstance and timing are not appropriate, and that halting this festival is considered “the least duty,” instead of announcing its holding. He added that he is against bringing male and female singers in light of these conditions. He said, “For us, the matter is completely unacceptable. Rather, we have a position against the festival in principle.”
Activists on social media demanded that the Jerash Festival be postponed until further notice. Out of respect for the blood of the martyrs in Gaza, and for the Jordanian position in support of the residents of the Gaza Strip and Palestine.
To the Minister of Culture, Ms. Haifa Al-Najjar @haifanajjar3
We demand that the Jerash Festival be postponed until further notice out of respect for the blood of the martyrs in Gaza and out of respect for the Jordanian position. Jordan and the Jordanians have always been the best support and assistance to our people in Gaza and Palestine.#Jerash_Festival postponed pic.twitter.com/FFiXIe1wxA
– Rashed (@mubaidin_rashed) May 29, 2024
It is noteworthy that the Jerash Festival was launched for the first time in 1980 at the initiative of Yarmouk University, before it turned into an official festival, and its first session was opened in 1981, and it became an annual event held in the ancient city of Jerash during the summer months, and includes artistic, literary and cultural events from various parts of the world, and previously It was canceled in 1982 because its date coincided with Israel’s invasion of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
