Popular celebration of the courage and bravery of Captain Firas Al-Anaanzeh has culminated in a high royal honour: he has been awarded the Order of Courage and Rescue, First Class, and promoted to the rank of captain.
اضافة اعلان
In a rare step, the King personally presented Al-Anaanzeh with his new rank at Al-Husainiya Palace, in the presence of Crown Prince Al-Hussein. It reflects the depth of national appreciation for the daring of Captain Firas, which prevented the terrorist from carrying out a massacre, on top of the vile crime committed against the martyr Jawad Al-Salaytah, who died defending his military honour and our right to life.
The crowds of well-wishers visiting Captain Al-Anaanzeh, and those proud of his courageous boldness, should be read within the wider national scene that was seen in the mourning for Martyr Al-Salaytah, and at the mourning tent for the martyrs of the Hamoud Church in Karak.
It was a free, fair and sincere vote by the Jordanian people, in the face of everything that threatens their security and stability, or puts Jordan's civil peace at risk.
Many years have passed since moments like these. The recent terrorist incidents some years ago at Karak Castle, Irbid, Salt and Al-Baqaa were important milestones, in which we tested the extent of popular solidarity with the Jordanian army and the security services. Before that, more than twenty years ago, the Amman hotel bombings marked a pivotal moment in our war against terrorism coming from beyond our borders.
Yet those important turning points in our war with terrorism and terrorists did not close the door to public debate about the stance on extremists.
Amid events in the region around us, some among us still avoid taking a clear position on the actions of the terrorist groups that were involved in igniting civil war in Iraq and later in Syria.
Many people working in public life and in opinion polling may recall that opinion surveys in Jordan once showed a considerable level of support for the actions of Zarqawi's group in Iraq. In Syria, some of us needed a long time to distinguish between revolutionary groups fighting for their country's freedom, and the terrorist organisations that committed the most horrific crimes against innocent people.
The involvement of thousands of Jordanians in these groups led to a firm belief that terrorist groups have support bases in our country, and that eliminating them requires years of security work, awareness activity and pursuit beyond the borders.
Concern about the activity of sleeper cells has remained in place. In recent years, the security services have foiled dozens of terrorist operations and put hundreds behind bars.
However, no occasion arose during this period to examine public attitudes towards those groups and their extremist ideology, until the Hamoud terrorist operation came, followed by the martyrdom of Al-Salaytah in Amman, coupled with the heroic action of Al-Anaanzeh. Together they gave us the best possible result of a field survey, one that surpassed survey samples by hundreds of times.
In short, the vast majority of Jordanians condemn terrorism and reject extremism when it becomes a criminal act against society.
Some groups suffer from intellectual distortions caused by systematic misinformation pushed by extremist platforms, especially those based outside Jordan. But when it comes to security and stability, the most strident voices in defining some issues are not prepared to bargain with the lives of Jordanians.
We need many steps to confront extremism and fanaticism in public circles. But the institutions charged with that responsibility will not be isolated, and will find popular rallying around them.
The recent acts of the terrorists, for all their brutality, baseness and treachery, have revealed the true character of Jordanians. For that reason, Jordan will win its battle against terrorism.
