A Traveller’s Perspective: Anti-Zionism, Economic Fallout, and the Gaza War’s Impact on Jordan

As I crossed the border checkpoint into Jordan in Aqaba, the airport was a ghost town. The border guards were more annoyed that they had to handle the intermittent airplane arrival than they were concerned about screening travellers. Such was the reality of life in Jordan after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7th. It was December, peak tourism season in Jordan, and the airports, the diving sites in the gulf, and world-famous archaeological sites were empty. It should have been a luxury expedition as I was treated to underwater museums, ancient churches, and unbelievable views free of the usual throngs of tourists. After October 7th, however, I encountered something deeper, and darker. The amazing experiences were overshadowed by the toxic social and political situation, where the nearby conflict in Gaza dominated every aspect of life. As an American, I felt more than out of place; I felt unwelcome in a beautiful, Islamic country where I experienced business practices which seemed to conflict with widely-believed religious tenets, people who lived in an alternate political reality, and innocent bystanders trapped in a dire economic situation over which they had no control

Values for Money

In the post-October 7th world, the term "Zionist" became a widely-used, poorly understood slur. Anyone who condemned October 7th or affirmed Israel's right to defend itself was labelled a Zionist whose opinions should be wholly discounted. Businesses deemed to be Zionist under this poorly-understood label suffered boycotts across the Middle East and North Africa. It was society's way of peacefully protesting Israel's retaliation, America's support, and Western businesses who provided funds to charity. While McDonalds, Starbucks, L'Oreal, REI Co-op, and more didn't have direct impact on the war, the financial pressures from the boycotts intended to force these companies to make public statements condemning Israel and supporting Palestine, even if only to save face with their patrons in a conflict which pitted Israel against Palestine, right versus wrong, and, in many people's minds, Islam against Judaism.

Unfortunately, these boycotts failed to account for the basics of human desires in the modern world: convenience and money. I came face-to-face with these basics as I travelled the region. For those who wanted to crumble Zionist businesses, their efforts were moderately successful in major cities like Amman where Starbucks and McDonalds sat empty. At the Amman airport, however, these businesses had queues twenty people long. This wasn't because of a lack of options; indeed, there was a local vegan restaurant with no queue whatsoever, although there was no alternative coffee shop. If the boycotts truly were about protesting Zionist businesses, shouldn't these queues have been empty just as they were in the city?

I loved many things about Jordan, but I learned one thing quickly when travelling the country: values might be important, but money and convenience were more important.

An Alternate Reality

While on a diving trip to Aqaba, Jordan, I had the opportunity to share a long dinner with my Jordanian hosts and their friends. One of them was Kuwaiti, but the other two were Palestinian. While the dinner started innocent enough, because I was an American, the conversation quickly turned to the conflict in Gaza. My hosts didn't know my personal or professional background, so they had no way of knowing I was well-versed in the conflict, its history, and the repeated failed attempts to bring it to an end. That didn't matter to them; they only wanted to force their point of view upon me. Rather than argue, I decided to listen. Maybe I would learn something new or gain a new perspective?

I certainly did, on both accounts.

My hosts fell into antisemitic rhetoric and accusations that have been repeated throughout the world. They told me that the Zionists, including Americans, wanted to see the eradication of Palestinians and an expansion of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates. It didn't matter to them that you would be hard pressed to find an American who could point to the Euphrates on a map. According to them, Americans supported an Israeli invasion of Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Why? Because the Zionists supported that policy, and the Zionists controlled our businesses, our education, and our government. It was the worldwide Jewish conspiracy, in which I was an unknowing but willing participant, or so they said. Nevermind that Israel didn't have the ground forces, economic horsepower, or international backing to take on several Arab armies at once, the inevitable Arab-Persian alliance, and the terrorist groups that would undoubtedly inject themselves into the conflict. It was a worldview grounded less in reality and more in anti-Semitic attitudes. I didn't know how to respond, so I just sat there and listened instead.

Innocent Bystanders

Of course, in any war, the real casualties are the innocent bystanders whose lives are upended by causes they may support but whose methods they had no control. In the post-October 7th world, economies which relied on Western tourism during peak travel season, such as Aqaba's, Petra's, and Wadi Rum's, saw economic ruin. Much-needed foreign tourism dollars failed to materialise as European airlines cancelled flight paths over Gaza, and Western governments issued travel advisories and regular updates about countries in the region. My hosts lamented that I was the only guest at their thirty-bed hostel for an entire week as a result of the war, and restauranteurs were eternally grateful when what few tourists there were dined at their shops.

Worse off were Petra and Wadi Musa, the town outside the ancient city's gates. December usually drew thousands of tourists a day to one of the most famous Seven Wonders of the World, but after October 7th, there was hardly a soul in sight. Shopkeepers didn't bother to turn their lights on, and hotels cancelled complementary breakfasts because they could afford to pay the chefs to cook them. Taxis competed for what few travellers there were, but most of us were young backpackers who would just as soon walk than spend money on a taxi. At one point, the Jordanian government cleared Petra of the local tribesmen who lived there; it was simply too expensive to keep the park open and kept without thousands of tourists providing the funds. Tours to Wadi Rum were outright cancelled, and hotels there dropped their prices to just one Jordanian Dinar in a desperate attempt to attract travellers willing to "brave" the conflict next door.

It was sad to see not just as a traveller, but as a human being. These people didn't ask for the war in Gaza, at least not directly. They didn't vote on it, they didn't protest for it, and Hamas didn't take them into consideration when they launched the attack. They were dragged into the conflict and their livelihoods wrecked by a situation over which they had no control

The Traveller's Dilemma

Paradoxically, it was a great time to travel Jordan. I had much of Petra to myself, got a steep bargain on my dive trip, and had no trouble finding transportation during Jordan's peak tourism season. It begged a question I never had occasion to ask: Should I even be there? I felt like I was taking advantage of a bad situation; the consequences of war shouldn't incentivize taking their advantage. At the same time, the few travellers disregarding the conflict to travel the country provided much-needed income, as little as it might have been.

My real dilemma, however, was not with the economic situation, but with the greater social one. The boycotts and the anti-Semitic ideology, all in the name of an anti-Zionist struggle, violated what I understood to be core tenets of Islam. Should I be supporting this country in its time of economic need? Should I be supporting businesses which openly decried my social and political beliefs, even though they didn't know me?

In the moment, I didn't consider such questions; I was focused on the travel experience. In hindsight, the answer to those questions is a sad and reluctant “no.” The conflict in Gaza didn’t scare me away. After all, it is as foreign to most Jordanians as it is the rest of the world. No, it is the attitudes towards my country and me that I experienced while travelling the country. It is a sad decision, as I met many wonderful people and saw so many beautiful things in the country. Unfortunately, those memories are all tainted by the anti-Semitism and conflict between values and behaviour that I experienced there.