AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian authorities arrested on Nov. 20 the local Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Zaki Bani Arshid over a Facebook post in which he had attacked the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) decision to list his organization as a terrorist group. He is due to appear before the State Security Court for "disrupting relations with a foreign state," a terror charge according to the Anti-Terrorism Law.
In Jordan, like any other recipient of Gulf aid, a wide spectrum of political Islam followers are increasingly watched by authorities. The Muslim Brotherhood cautions about the rise of jihadists on the ashes of their criminalization, whereas the secular parties call for the reduction of the Islamist influence on education to counter extremism. Despite foreign pressures, the Brotherhood is not considered a terrorist organization in Jordan, and the kingdom is not likely to jeopardize its longstanding tacit alliance with the movement.