The killing of Jordanian pilot Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh, who had been captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) on December 24, 2014, shocked the Jordanian public. In an official statement, Jordanian King Abdullah, who cut short his U.S. visit following the news, said, "We have received with grief and sorrow the news of the martyrdom of the sacred hero pilot, the late Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh, at the hands of the cowardly terrorist organization ISIS," and added, "This is a catastrophe for all Jordanian men and women."[1]
The following day's editorials and columns in the Jordanian press also featured messages of mourning and pain. Many called for all-out war against ISIS and for avenging the pilot, including with the execution of terrorists imprisoned in Jordan.
Following are excerpts from the articles:
"We are all Mu'adh" (Source: Al-Ghad, Jordan, February 4, 2015)
Editorial In Official Jordanian Daily: We Will Not Be Silent And Will Not Rest Until We Have Vengeance
In its editorial, the official Jordanian daily Al-Rai threatened ISIS, warning that its members would pay a heavy price wherever they were, and adding that the Jordanians are now united around their regime: "Oh, you killers, from now on there is no truce, tolerance, or forgiveness. You have chosen the lowest rung of humanity, morality, and religion... You wished to challenge the entire world, harm Jordanian feelings, and receive the curses of the Creator. Now you must pay the price, and it will be a heavy one. None of your justifications, delusions, and illusions will do you any good...
"The price you pay will be unusual. The response will come from a direction you are not expecting and of which you are unaware. The blood and life of our hero pilot Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh were not spent in vain, and the oppressors will know their fate...
"Our score with you will never be settled, and our conflict with you will not be restricted to any one arena, location, or environment. After you surpassed everything imaginable or describable, all restrictions are lifted; you must therefore be aware of the consequences of your despicable actions...
"We will not rest until we have our revenge against these same evil barbarians and until we avenge the blood of all those martyred at the hands of these same infidels. Know that our score remains unsettled until the Day of Judgment, after [Al-Kasasbeh's murderers] crossed all lines with their cruelty, barbarism, malice, and heresy."[2]
Former Jordanian Minister: No Room For Mercy With ISIS; Execute All Its Members Who Were Sentenced To Death
Samih Al-Ma'aita, head of the official Al-Rai daily's board of directors and former Jordanian communications minister, stressed that Jordanians were entitled to demand the blood of ISIS activists in revenge for the murder of the pilot, and called for executing terrorists condemned to death in Jordan so that ISIS could taste the pain that they had inflicted on the Jordanians:
"Condemnation and opposition are not the language we must use to deal with this criminal gang. It requires the state to heal the hearts of the Jordanians and of all sane people in the world by carrying out the death penalty and the law regarding anyone who belongs to this deviant ideology and stream.
"Anyone sentenced to death, as well as their families and the stream to which they belong, should taste the bitterness of death, just as it was tasted by the family of Mu'adh and by every Jordanian - because [these prisoners'] blood is worth no more than that of Mu'adh the Jordanian. Death is the fitting punishment for anyone who holds this ideology, and for all members of this stream, whatever their clandestine epithets.
"The Jordanians have the right to see those who preach this ideology and [promote] this organization held to account by the rule of law. Overall, we must use the maximum severity in punishing and persecuting this stream, since we all have a blood feud with them...
"[ISIS] are the losers, and therefore there is no room for sympathizing [with them], not even secretly. Anyone who expresses sympathy [for ISIS], even in a whisper, must pay a price for this, since it is the enemy of us all. The Jordanian revenge will continue until this organization and ideology are brought down. This is our war, and the war of true Islam..."[3]
'Al-Ghad' Editor: Mu'adh's Death Will Only Strengthen The Jordanian Front
Jumana Ghunaimat, editor-in-chief of the Jordanian daily Al-Ghad, also called for executing the terrorists incarcerated in Jordan, and emphasized that the pilot's death had united the Jordanian public and given all Jordanians the right to demand revenge. She wrote: "Mu'adh, who since his capture has united us, continues to unite us after his death. The way in which the murderers carried out [their] crime shows that they have lost all semblance of humanity. Now all Jordanians feel the need for revenge... The painful loss [of Kasasbeh] will only strengthen the Jordanian front, and increase its resolve not only to fight ISIS and terror organizations of its ilk, but also to ensure [our] victory over them and to uproot them forever.
"[The death of] Mu'adh has turned this war into a war waged by all Jordanians against the murderers whose innumerable crimes we witness every day. This heinous crime, and the way in which it was exhibited [for all the world to see], prove that this organization planned to target Jordan and its people out of hatred and hostility towards all Jordanians; therefore, all Jordanians are entitled to demand that his death be avenged and that the terrorists who threaten our present and our children's future be hunted down.
"We have enough means to vanquish these terrorists, and to harm them just like they harmed [us] when they killed Mu'adh. The first is by executing the terrorists we are holding, as soon as possible. This response to the heinous crime is the least of what these terrorists deserve. Mu'adh's death is not the first blow they have dealt us, for we all still remember, and are still hurting from, the terrorist attacks in Jordan that cost the lives of dozens of innocent victims.
"The crimes of ISIS surpass imagination, and [are worse] even than the crimes of the Nazis. The fact that they are committed in the name of Islam, which is innocent of them, makes the pain no less; [instead, it] obliges all Muslims to come out, without a hint of hesitation, against this terrorism that harms their religion, their identity, and their image around the world.
"Mu'adh, our son and our brother, pilot and fighter, unites us in pain and in the demand for revenge. We must give these terrorists a taste of the pain that they caused us when they killed one of the best of our sons, who had committed no crime."[4]
