Calls for revenge in Jordan as nation mourns slain pilot

Soon after news broke that 26-year-old Jordanian pilot, Muaz Kasasbeh, had been burned to death by Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, members of his tribe and residents of his hometown of Karak gathered outside a diwan, or social hall, in Amman near the royal palace to mourn Kasasbeh’s death.

Stamping their feet in the cold, the three hundred solemn-looking men dressed in dark suits and red keffiyehs, shouted slogans.

"We sacrifice our blood and souls for you Moaz, we are all here for Moaz, God loves martyrs, your blood will not be cheap, your blood will not be for nothing."

The tribesmen were furious at IS, whose seizure last year of large chunks of neighbouring Syria and Iraq has left many Jordanians worried about the militant group’s growing clout. According to a 2014 poll by the Center for Strategic Studies, 65 percent of Jordanians see IS as the biggest threat to Jordan’s stability.

“We will make the women of Da'esh cry”!” shouted one man dressed in a long charcoal robe, a poster of Kasabeh’s pale face hanging behind him. “Moaz's blood was not shed in vain!”

Kasasbeh, a handsome F-16 fighter pilot with a prominent social media presence, was the first member of the international coalition bombing IS to be captured by the militants. He was also a member of a politically influential tribe, part of a crucial base of tribal support for the king.

After hearing about his son’s death, Kasasbeh’s father, an important tribal elder, told Al Jazeera: "I demand none of them amongst us be kept alive. I demand the revenge be greater than executing prisoners. I demand the ISIL organisation be annihilated."

As the crowd outside the diwan swelled and the evening grew cold, talk turned to the question of blame: aside from the militants who killed the young pilot, who else was at fault?

Some of the tribesmen, who had rushed from Karak to the capital to support Lieutenant Kasasbeh’s family, blamed the US-led coalition and its war against IS, a war they say “Jordan has no place in”.

"The decision to join coalition was made in the West; they destroyed Iraq before and now they are trying to destroy Syria,” said a middle-aged man in a white Kefiyyeh. “I call for a march of a million tomorrow to withdraw Jordan from the coalition.”

Addressing the crowd, Ali al Dalalaeen, a former MP, urged caution.

"I think the coalition is a political movement to drag Jordan into a war. We can't just have any reaction, we need our reaction to be something we think about."

While the murder of the young pilot appears to have brought Jordanians together in their condemnation, the killing has also raised  questions about how and where Jordan - a small nation of 6.4 million heavily dependent on foreign aid -fits in to the West’s international campaign against IS.

Even if King Abdullah II who, after hearing the pilot’s death on Tuesday cut short a visit to the US, wanted to ramp up pressure on IS, there are serious doubts about whether he could do it, analysts say.

“There’s a disconnect now… between the population who are keen for revenge, and Jordan’s actual capabilities,” said Hassan Hassan, an analyst of Syria based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.

“The armed forces are well-equipped and funded but going after the Islamic State, opening up the borders with Syria for example, involves taking a lot risks,” he said.

Though he dismissed the prospect of a Syria-style takeover of Jordan by IS, Hassan said an increase in suicide bombings and targeting of military personal in the monarchy was likely.

Fearing the militant group could infiltrate Jordan’s borders, King Abdullah II, a close US ally, last year enacted a tough new anti-terror law banning any open activity, recruitment or support for IS.

In August, Abu Ayesh, a 20-year-old from Amman, was charged with “promoting terrorist ideology and propaganda through social media” after allegedly posting an IS YouTube video on his Facebook page – a crime now punishable by five to 15 years in prison.

Under increased pressure to act, the government may intensify its crackdown on Islamists, a move which analysts believe risks alienating and radicalising significant conservative segments of its population.

At dawn on Wednesday, Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be Iraqi suicide bomber who had been on death row since 2005 was executed in an apparent act of retribution for the killing of Kasasbeh.

“I think we’re going to see more crackdowns in the near future…. the execution this morning creates a tit for tat dynamic that’s ultimately going to harm Jordan,” said Saleem al-Hadad, a Middle East Conflict and Security advisor for Saferworld. “It’s made the divisiveness -- you’re with or against IS -- more pronounced. Cracking down on freedom won’t fix this. The Jordanians need to focus on community-police relations, addressing long-term problems of inequality, poverty, and development in the country.”

Sara Elizabeth Williams contributed to writing this report from Jordan.