Power Handover: et tu Jordan?
Jordan represents another one of those hybrid states in the Middle East that was given authority and legality by its Mandate sponsor, Great Britain. When Turkey's influence and hold on power, as the reigning and finally failing Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire came to an end, and Britain held the power and the presence in the Middle East, the Hashemite kingdom saw its evolution from a Bedouin tribal territory to the State of (Trans)Jordan.King Hussein of Jordan had a peculiar relationship with the fledgling State of Israel, wavering between acceptance of its presence and the urge to join Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt in a combined onslaught against Israel in 1948. The defeat of the Arab armies and the successful defence by Israel of its right to exist led to the plight of Palestinians living as refugees within Arab countries that gave them shelter, but not legitimization as citizens.
That resulted, in September 1970, with King Hussein having to defend his throne from militant Fatah members who were part of the Palestinian fadayeen when a coup d'etat was planned to take over the kingdom. The ensuing battles that raged between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fighters and the Jordanian troops saw the death and expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from Jordan.
Since then, the East Bank Bedouin from among whom King Abdullah, son of Hussein, has his ardent supporters, and the West Bank Palestinians, a majority group of Jordanians who have full citizenship rights and from among whom King Abdullah found a bride and a queen, have lived together in something approximating tolerance.
With the growing and volatile situation in the Middle East of Arabs and North African Muslims demanding a change in the type of governance they live under, from dictatorships to democracies - or what might pass for a democracy in the Middle East and North Africa - Jordan too has seen itself conflicted by the demands that change be effected.
As elsewhere in the geography, the most organized and populous groups that offer alternatives appear to be Islamist, counterparts of the Muslim Brotherhood. King Abdullah, a popular, socially restrained and relatively moderate ruler, is not being asked to step down. Rather those who mount protests on the Palestinian side are demanding an elected parliament and cabinet where power must reside.
King Abdullah, left as a respected figurehead of state, seems to be the solution to the demands in Jordan. And the promises by the king, who has great support in the West, that the changes the protesters want to see enacted will come to fruition, may result in a more balanced and just society. Yet, given the general direction of fundamentalist Islamism throughout the region, that may be in doubt.
One state that will be left in doubt about the proceedings as they transpire is most certainly Israel. Whose peace treaty with Egypt, now that a transition from the leadership of Hosni Mubarak has taken place, with the distinct likelihood of a near-future Muslim Brotherhood leadership, impacting on that peace treaty, there is ample reason for grave concern.
As goes Egypt's treaty with Israel, so too may Jordan's peace treaty with Israel be in future doubt.
Labels: Middle East, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Monday, June 13, 2011
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