Press release
The Suffering of the People of Palestine at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge
Between Congestion, Corruption, and VIP Classism
As the countries of the region surrounding the blessed land of Palestine collude to tighten the noose around its people, harm them, and drive them to leave their land and hand it over to the Jews, the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby or Karameh) constitutes the main artery of life for the people of Palestine towards the outside world. However, this crossing, which is supposed to be a means of transportation, has become a daily source of suffering for travelers, especially on the Jordanian side, where human, administrative, and political factors intersect to create a very harsh scene.
The crossing journey in both directions across the bridge may extend for long hours, sometimes reaching more than ten hours, in conditions that lack the minimum of human services. The elderly, the sick, and women suffer doubly, as there are not enough seats or places prepared for comfortable waiting, while the intense heat in summer and the severe cold in winter add to the burden of the experience for travelers.
What made matters worse is that the Jordanian authorities recently introduced a pre-booking system through specific travel agencies, under the pretext of reducing congestion and organizing traffic. However, reality has shown that this system has turned into a means of monopoly, corruption, and restricting travelers; it is difficult for the average traveler to obtain an early booking, which has opened the door to the black market and ticket brokers, who are often state officials, especially those working on the bridge itself. Travelers complain that brokers cooperating with some offices buy tickets and then sell them at inflated prices. This practice has become an additional burden on Palestinian families, who are forced to pay exorbitant amounts to obtain an urgent booking, which reveals a well-planned conspiracy and opens the door to corruption and extortion, in addition to the Jordanian regime's collusion with the Jewish entity in the process of restricting the people of Palestine to forcibly displace them and escape from the hell of traveling to and from the blessed land.
In addition to the black market, the VIP system reinforces a state of clear discrimination; in exchange for high sums, which may exceed 150 dinars per person, the traveler receives special treatment that includes bypassing queues, shortening procedures, and traveling in air-conditioned buses. This service has turned the crossing into a class scene; whoever has money passes quickly, and whoever does not have it remains a prisoner of long queues. Those who benefit from this service are mostly Jordanian state officials who cooperate with Jews in exploiting people, plundering their money, and sharing it.
The matter is not limited to congestion and corruption, but goes beyond to a deeper psychological and political dimension; the suffering on the bridge is read by the Palestinians as a systematic humiliation, and an indirect message that their movement is not free, and that their travel is conditional on their financial ability or their patience with long suffering. Instead of the bridge being a bridge for connection, it has become a symbol of loss of dignity and social disparity.
The traveler is confused as to which party is more vile: the Palestinian Authority, the Jewish entity, or Jordan? Each of them pours out their wrath on the traveler. The Palestinian Authority side is like a crossing point for the customs police, where they inspect people and confiscate their personal goods under the pretext that they are the exclusive monopoly of Abbas, his son Tariq, and others of the "top brass" in the Authority. As for the Jewish side, it carries out security inspections on people and luggage, imposes exorbitant fees on those leaving from the people of Palestine, confiscates their money, and obliges them to pay fines and taxes on their personal goods. The Jordanian side, in turn, imposes an entry tax to Jordan and an exit tax from the airport, and restricts travelers with the pre-booking system, which pushes them to resort to VIP services that many cannot afford, especially since it only involves transporting them across a distance of no more than three kilometers, in exchange for a cost that may exceed 150 dinars per person.
One of the travelers summarized his suffering after finishing the procedures on the side of the Jewish entity, saying: "You leave the side of the state of the Jews where you are treated inhumanely, to enter the Jordanian side as if you are entering a small hell." The bridge has become a glaring example of how the right to movement can turn into an economic and psychological burden, in which the conspiracy against the steadfastness of the people of Palestine in their blessed land intertwines with corruption, monopoly, and classism.
Anyone who looks at the state of the bridge will see a summary of the conspiracy being woven by the Jews, along with their tools of implementation; the Palestinian Authority and the Jordanian regime, with the aim of restricting the people of Palestine, undermining their determination and steadfastness, until they resort to fleeing the blessed land, so that it becomes clear for the Jews. The Jordanian regime remains a faithful guardian for them on the longest borders, while the Palestinian Authority continues to work as a spy and security arm for the Jews on those who remain of the people of Palestine. But alas, alas, these insignificant people and their enemies, the Jews, will not be able to change God's decree and promise. He ﷺ said: «The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stone or the tree, and the stone or the tree says: O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, so come and kill him, except for the Gharqad, for it is a tree of the Jews» Narrated by Ahmad.
The Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in the Wilayah of Jordan