Gaza on the Jordanian radio

The afternoon radio here in Jordan did a campaign for Gaza, and I caught it on the way home. It was a follow-up from a morning show.

People were supposed to call in and pledge to donate money for Gazans, but the first caller was an irate man instead:

We need to understand who the true enemy is! Israel is bombarding Gaza, and the US is the one standing behind Israel, and John Kerry the other day said that Israel has a right to defend itself...

Radio host: oh, sir, this show is not about that, I'm very sorry, I completely respect your opinion, however, we have a different theme in mind right now ...

Caller: keeps shouting.

Radio host: keeps apologizing and trying to move on.

Caller: keeps shouting.

Radio host: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please, please, please forgive me! I'm going to have to move to another caller ...

So the next caller was a lady who pledged 12 dinars, and the caller after that was a man who pledged 2500 dinars. The radio host said, mashaAllah! Then he said: yes, we are used to such large amounts, this morning we had people pledging 20,000 and 25,000 and 100,000 dinars.

Another time I was in a taxi, and for the third time while I've been here, the taxi driver had turned the dial to the BBC Arabic. On the air was the BBC Arabic's call-in show, and of course they were talking about Gaza.

I caught just a little bit of it. I heard a male caller from the West Bank who was very angry and he was talking about how the whole West Bank stands with Gaza, or something like that. Then there was a researcher who was interviewed as part of the show, and she was actually a professor at a Jordanian University. I am so used to listening to the BBC Arabic in the US that it took me a while to realize that I was so close to the action. The researcher being contacted was in Jordan, and I was in Jordan, too. Ha! She said: the bombardment in Gaza is a direct result of the occupation of Palestine.

Then one time I was in the city center with a French girl and a Swedish-Finnish-French girl. We were buying Eid presents for Syrian kids, and in one of the shops there was a TV, and it was turned to the news. It was either Al Arabiya or Al Jazeera, I think. The spokesman for a hospital in Gaza was giving a statement, while on-lookers jostled behind him to get onto the screen. The spokesman's statement was words like: martyrs, never give up, we are strong. Then he said that he expected for the UN Secretary-General to pay attention to what was happening and to do something.