Rahul Sharma (Editor)

1955 Madaba riot

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

The 1955 Madaba riot, sometimes also referred as the Madaba massacre took place in the predominantly Christians Jordanian town of Madaba, when a number of Christians were killed by Islamist rioters.

The riot seems to have begun in a dispute of Christian and Muslim taxi drivers, after which the Salt monastery was attacked by members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, eventually transforming in into an all-out sectarian riot. It is claimed, that the event was instigated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tahrir Party. It was also claimed that a Jordanian Parliament Member Muhammad Salim Abu al-Ghanam was behind the eruption of the riot.

Wide-scale anti-Hashemite riots took place the same year in December, lasting for five days. Those came as a result of an attempt to bring Jordan into the Baghdad Pact. The riots were severe - foreign consulates were attacked and many people were killed and wounded throughout the country. The riots were quelled only with the military intervention of the Arab Legion and imposition of a curfew. As a result of the riots, the Majali government fell and the introduction of Jordan into the pact was cancelled.

References

1955 Madaba riot Wikipedia