Anti-government demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt concerned the Jordanian regime even before protests erupted in Jordan itself. As in Egypt, Jordanians face severe economic pressures as prices rise and job growth remains sluggish, while the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has always added a strain on Jordan's political life. Cognisant of this, King Abdullah initially instructed the government to take measures to keep prices under control and create new jobs in early January. Then, as the situation in Tunisia and Egypt became more serious, a second package of measures was announced that included pay rises for civil servants and further price controls (see Economic policy).

The measures were welcomed, but few saw them as anything more than a palliative gesture, and opposition groups went ahead with demonstrations against government policies. The first protests were marked by a division between the IAF and the professional associations, and leftist political groups, with the latter organising their rally on January 14th and the IAF and the professional associations staging a separate event on the following Sunday. The next week, the IAF joined other groups when 5,000 Jordanians took to the street in the capital, Amman, in a demonstration that included the full political spectrum. The week afterwards, 3,500 people demonstrated in Amman and a further 2,500 in six other Jordanian cities. The demonstrations were generally peaceful, and the police and security forces even offered protesters water and fruit juice during the January 21st event.