Should Israel be supporting Jordan?
Asaf Romirowsky writes that Israel should be supporting
Jordan's King Abdullah.
This would include boosting economic ties, for example, expanding the “Bridging the Rift” science center, a joint Israeli-Jordanian-American center backed by Stanford and Cornell where the focus lies on science providing a common language between Israeli and Jordanian students. More Israeli support would come via shared intelligence as it relates to fighting terrorism and Islamism in both countries. Both forms of support would serve Abdullah well as he attempts to illustrate how Jordan is stable and economically viable.
Beyond the above, Israel has some leverage as it relates to the shared national interest of the Jordan Valley water, which both countries deeply depend on. Israel could expand its desalination efforts in a way that benefits Jordanians. Expanding this collaboration is something Abdullah can use to stress the added value the monarchy and the peace bring to both countries.
If East Bankers and West Bankers unite under an umbrella of hatred towards Israel and the United States, the ongoing asymmetrical warfare Israel faces will only intensify. Abdullah and his monarchy are not perfect, but they remain an island of stability in a region where no one yet knows what the future holds.
I'm not feeling very warm and fuzzy about King Abdullah. I find him much more difficult than I found his father. Perhaps that is why Romirowsky - a former IDF liaison to Jordan - wrote this article.
Abdullah is making problems for Israel. He is revoking
Jordanian citizenship from 'Palestinians.' He has become one of the most
hysterical advocates for 'Palestinian statehood.' He insists on keeping the 'Palestinians' out of the military, while the
Bedouin become more and more disenchanted with both Abdullah and the 'Palestinian' majority. He has fostered closer relations with Tehran (yes, I know, Obama is to blame for that). After 17 years of 'peace' with Israel, his media still believes that the struggle between Israel and the Arabs is
existential, and the 'peace' with Jordan is
about as cold as it can get.
In sum, Abdullah is a
real obstacle to peace, and while that doesn't make Jordan like Syria - where anything would be better than the current government - it does mean that we ought to be open to change to a government that might improve relations with , as much of a longshot as that may be.
Labels: Bedouin, Jordanian citizenship, Jordanian King Abdullah, Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome
Change coming to Jordan?
Mudar Zahran reports that change is likely coming to Jordan, but it's
not likely to be democratic change.
Since the establishment of the Hashemite rule -- on the Eastern part of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1921 -- the Hashemites have been following the classic policy of divide and conquer by turning the Bedouin minority into their own army, and banning everyone else from joining.
This dependency on the rule of the minority worked out for the Hashemites when they occupied Judea and Samaria in 1948 and ruled the Palestinian population west of the Jordan River. It also served them well later, in 1970, when the Palestinian Liberation Organization was competing with King Hussein over who should rule Jordan.
The Hahsemites' doctrine of creating a loyal minority has resulted in the Palestinian majority being stripped of most of their basic rights and privileges, with the Bedouin meanwhile receiving massive benefits from the Jordanian state, such as free university education, exemption from most taxes, exemption from the high car tariffs, and at the same time being given generous land grants and lavish scholarships to Western graduate schools. This disparity has left the Palestinian majority somewhat miffed at the regime, and willing to replace it. This disparity has also turned the Hashemite regime into a virtual hostage to the Bedouin loyalists who control the army and the police, and who could topple the regime any time they wished.
Recently there have been signs that the Bedouin are no longer loyal to the Hashemites; they are seeking to rule Jordan on their own. On June 13th, when the King made a trip to the Southern Bedouin city of Tafillah, his motorcade was attacked by the local Bedouin, who threw stones and empty bottles on it. Although this incident was confirmed by a Jordanian official to the Jerusalem Post, and reported by the Agence France Presse, it was later denied by the Jordanian government's spokesperson, Tahir Edwan, who claimed that the stone throwers were just citizens stampeding to take a look at the king -- a claim similar to the recent one by Libya's Colonel Muammar Qaddafi to Christiane Amanpour that the people protesting against him were his followers rallying for support. Unconfirmed reports stated that the incident evolved into a standoff between the King's bodyguards and the usually heavily-armed Bedouin locals.
Deposing Abdullah would not necessarily be a bad thing - he has no more legitimacy than Bashar al-Assad, who controls his country in a similar way. The bigger problem is the Bedouin agenda.
The Bedouin who oppose the King are promoting an alarming agenda: to strip the Palestinian majority universally of their Jordanian citizenships and to end the peace treaty with Israel.
Since April 2010, Bedouin figures and senior retired army officers have been issuing public statements and open letters to the King, calling on him to de-naturalize the Palestinians and turn them into residents rather than citizens. They have also been calling for hostility against Israel, a plan that includes "ending the peace treaty with the Zionist entity" and "re-establishing Israel as an enemy state." Retired Bedouin army figures issued a statement in May openly demanding that the King establish serious ties with Hamas "as the one and only true representative of the Palestinian people."
This is a case where a strong US leader would encourage Abdullah to open the military to the 'Palestinian' majority in order to maintain his hold on power. But there isn't a strong US leader, and any attempt by Israel to encourage a move like that is bound to backfire. And so, the assumption is that sooner or later Abdullah will fall, and that the US and Israel need to be prepared for such an eventuality.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Hashemite kingdom, Jordan is Palestine, Jordanian citizenship, Jordanian King Abdullah, Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty
Abu Bluff: 'Do as I say, not as I do'
This is rich....
At a time when the 'Palestinian Authority' is urging Jordan to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of 'Palestinian refugees' who have lived in Jordan for generations - in order to 'consolidate their Palestinian identity' -
'moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen and Fatah's former Gaza thug in chief Mohamed Dahlan (who are themselves
rivals) have both taken out
Jordanian citizenship. And they're not alone. So has Abu Bluff's entire family and most of the 'Palestinian' leadership.
Atef Tarawneh, deputy speaker of the Jordanian parliament, denounced the decision to revoke the citizenship of thousands of Jordanians of Palestinian origin.
Tarawneh said that the decision was “harmful” to national unity and the constitution in Jordan.
He added that he recently met with King Abdullah II and warned him against the repercussions of revoking the citizenships. He said that the decision has harmed investment in the kingdom because dozens of Jordanian-Palestinian businessmen living abroad were afraid to return home out of fear that the authorities would confiscate their passports.
According to the Londonbased Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, a significant number of PA leaders are registered as full Jordanian citizens.
The paper pointed out that the leaders applied for Jordanian citizenship at a time when they were urging the Jordanian authorities to stop giving Palestinians Jordanian citizenship, in order to “consolidate their Palestinian identity.” The Jordanian government had justified its decision to strip Palestinians of their citizenship by using the same argument.
However, the Jordanians have long seen the Palestinian majority in the kingdom as a demographic threat.
The decision to rescind the citizenship of tens of thousands of Palestinians is seen in the context of this fear.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted sources in Amman as saying that Abbas and his entire family carry Jordanian passports.
Other PA leaders who carry Jordanian passports include former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei, Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh and Fatah’s Muhammad Dahlan.
The paper did not say when the Palestinian officials were given Jordanian citizenship. PA spokesmen in Ramallah refused to comment on the report.
A Fatah official, however, said that he was not surprised to hear that Palestinian leaders were carrying Jordanian passports. He said he believed most of the PA leaders had applied for and received Jordanian passports in the past 15 years.
In an editorial, Al-Quds Al- Arabi criticized the Palestinian leaders who applied for Jordanian citizenship.
“This is shameful for them because they and their families should be proud of their Palestinian citizenship,” the paper wrote. “If they don’t believe in their own citizenship and are not proud of it, this means that they are not loyal to the Palestinian Authority and don’t deserve to speak on its behalf.”
The paper noted that it was the PA leaders who had asked for Jordanian citizenship, and not the Jordanians who had offered it.
“They were the ones who applied for it, and perhaps they had embarrassed senior Jordanian government officials with the requests,” it wrote.
The Jordanians were unable to reject the applications “out of courtesy and generosity,” the paper said.
'Palestinian citizenship' is kind of like
American taxes: It's for the little people. No wonder Abu Bluff and his crew get along so well with the Obami.
Heh.
Labels: Abu Ala, Abu Mazen, Jordanian citizenship, Mohamed Dahlan
Asaf Romirowsky writes that Israel should be supporting Jordan's King Abdullah. 
