Thu 20 June 2019:
Newspaper readers in Jordan were surprised on Tuesday morning with almost complete disregard for the death of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
As monitored by Arabi21, the front pages of Al Ra’i and Ad-Dustour newspapers were issued without any reference to the news of President Morsi’s death, and without any reference to the international reactions to the death. Al Ghad newspaper only published a short article on the bottom of its front page, which did not contain any indication of the details or reactions.
Ad-Dustour is the oldest daily newspaper in Jordan. It was founded in 1967. Al Ra’i newspaper, of which the government has the largest share, was founded few years after Ad-Dustournewspaper, both of which are considered the most widespread publications in Jordan. Al Ghadnewspaper, which was founded in 2004, is an entirely independent newspaper owned by its publisher, the well-known businessperson Mohammed Alian. It is believed that this newspaper has attracted a large segment of newspaper readers in Jordan since its publication.
Ignoring the news about Morsi’s death in the Jordanian daily newspapers comes even though it captured the public’s attention and social media websites on Monday evening, while hashtags related to Morsi’s death topped the list of the most trending hashtags in Jordan on Monday evening. The paradox in what Arabi21 has monitored is that the news about Morsi’s death with his photo has been on the headlines of front pages of international non-Arabic newspapers, including The Independent, which has devoted half of its front page for the news about Morsi, with a title on top of his photo “Ousted Egyptian President Dies during Trial.”
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of Islamic Action Front Party, Murad Al-Adayla, said that “Salat Al-Gha’ib (Absentee Funeral Prayer) for the late President Mohamed Morsi that was to be performed in front of the Egyptian embassy in Amman was prohibited,” as reported by oppositionist Assabeel newspaper, which is close to the Islamic Action Front Party, on its website. “The governor of the capital, Saad Al-Shehab, contacted the party and informed them about the prohibition of performing the prayer in front of the Egyptian embassy in the capital Amman,” Al-Adayla added.
Al-Adayla explained in an interview with Arabi21 that the Islamic Action Front Party would perform the Absentee Funeral Prayer on Tuesday night, in front of the headquarters of the Islamic Action Front Party. Al-Adayla also pointed out that the Islamic Action Front Party will receive condolences to President Mohamed Morsi on Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Islamic Action Front Party, after the party had called to perform the Absentee Funeral Prayer on the deceased Morsi in front of the Egyptian embassy after the Isha prayer.
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