There was a discrepancy between the reaction of the Muslim Brotherhood and that of the government in Jordan regarding the ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The independent Jordanian Al-Ghad daily saw Morsi’s removal, as mentioned in its headlines, as the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.
Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh made haste to send a letter to Cairo in support of the decisions made by the army. Later on, Judeh headed to Egypt to meet the interim president, to whom he conveyed a message from the Jordanian king, reiterating Jordan’s support for the Egyptian people’s demands and the changes that came to pass afterwards.
On the other side, the Muslim Brotherhood was tremendously shocked with what was considered to be a military coup, announcing their support for Morsi and his legitimacy. The head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Consultative Council in Jordan, Hamam Said, sent a letter to the members of the organization, in which he listed the positive qualities of the deposed Egyptian president and called on them to beware the adverse media and political campaign.
The disparity was apparent in the media. The state-owned Al-Rai newspaper devoted a large part of its Egyptian news coverage to attacking the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, while the Al-Yarmouk satellite channel, which is close to the Brotherhood, focused its attention on the Egyptian developments. The channel covered the pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood protests in Rabia al-Adawiya square.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.