JORDAN’S REBELS: AN ONGOING REVOLUTION NONSTOP…

JORDANIAN REBEL AND SHEIKH MUHAMMAD ALHADEED: WITH THE KINGLET’S OWN BLESSINGS; JORDAN’S JAILS HAVE TURNED INTO SLAUGHTER HOUSES, TORTURE TO DEATH, WOMEN DENIED TAMPONS; BEGGING TO DIE, ISRAEL’S JAILS ARE BETTER THE FOURTH CIRCLE PROTESTS
– AMMAN- 24 JANUARY 2019

January 26, 2019 | 8 Comments »
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8 Comments / 8 Comments

  2. adamdalgliesh Said:

    * It is not clear that a unified government would emerge if the king were overthrown. A Syrian scenario, in which there would be a breakup of the country into warring militias representing many different ethnic, tribal and politial groups, fighting a civil war with each other and with foreign, including Russian and Iranian, intervention, would be a distinct possibility.

    * No future Jordanian government is likely to improve relations with Israel, because of intense popular hostility to Israel in Jordan and support for the Palestinian terrorist “resistance.” This makes the “Jordanian Option” unlikely for the forseeable future in my opinion.

    Bingo!!!!

    IMO the Best Palis Transfer option is anyplace but Jordan the father away from Jordan the better.

  3. I would like to modify what I wrote earlier today somewhat with regard to the situationJordan.

    Secretary of State Pompeo’s visit to Jordan, and the joint press conference that he gave there with the king and his ministers, was interesting and revealing, not for what he said but for what he didn’t say. Pompeo did not praise the king,beyond the minimal courtesies required by the situation. He did praise Jordan for joining the “coalition” in Syria, but also urged the Jordanians to play a more active role in the coalition’s military efforts against IS and Iran now that the U.S. is withdrawing. Most of what he had to say did not have to do with Jordan at all. Instead, he focused on the larger Middle East scene and Iran. He did not comment on the internal political crisis in Jordan.

    I interpreted this to mean that Pompeo was aware of Abdullah’s shortcomings and unpopularity with many Jordanians, and wasn’t too happy with his government. On the other hand, he didn’t criticize Abdullah, either.And the very fact he did not object to being photographed and recorded by the press while meeting with the king and his entourage suggests that he still recognizes Abdullah as the legitimate ruler of Jordan, and that he is not demanding or expecting a change of regime there in the immediate future.His support for Abdullah was lackluster and half-hearted, but still he wasn’t willing to openly oppose him, either. Pompeo and Trump seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach to Jordan, since they are not sure they can control either the king or his opponents,

  4. My over-all reading of the situation in Jordan (and I freely admit that I don’t know much about Jordan and can’t read Arabic, so I could be 100 percent wrong) is as follows:

    * The Trump administration is barely even aware that there is a crisis in Jordan and is not planning regime change or any other dramatic moves there. I base this on what I can surmise from examining U.S. government websites and Trump’s twitter account. Anyone who reads please inform me if they have located anything on USG web sites or the President’s blogs that indicates otherwise, and provide us with quotations and links to these USG publications. As an inveterate political watcher going back to the 1960s, I am convinced that there have always been some public “smoke signals” given out when the USG is planning regime change in a foreign country, as well as some indications concerning the groups and individuals that the uSG or the President wish to replace the existing regime with. Trump’s recent recognition of the Venezuelan opposition leader as interim President, and its withdrawal of recognition for Maduro, is an example of this pattern. So far, as far as I know, no indication of this with reference to Jordan.

    * While there is widespread opposition to the government in Jordan, it is not clear that the regime opponents have settled on a common leader, lead organization, or program, beyond opposition to unjust taxation and rate hikes. The opponents may have diverse political viewpoints and agendas.

    * It is not clear that a unified government would emerge if the king were overthrown. A Syrian scenario, in which there would be a breakup of the country into warring militias representing many different ethnic, tribal and politial groups, fighting a civil war with each other and with foreign, including Russian and Iranian, intervention, would be a distinct possibility.

    * No future Jordanian government is likely to improve relations with Israel, because of intense popular hostility to Israel in Jordan and support for the Palestinian terrorist “resistance.” This makes the “Jordanian Option” unlikely for the forseeable future in my opinion.

  5. @ Ted Belman: Thanks for this respectful acknowledgment of my doubts, Ted.

    My impression, from reading the English language Arab press, including the (censured) Jordanian press, is that the King is not so powerless that he couldn’t have people openly calling for his death arrested if he wants to. It is possible that some the individuals leading these demonstrations, at least those who didn’t try to hide their faces, are now in police custody. The Arab press does report that 34 demonstrators are being held by the Jordanian police.

    On the other hand, the king has clearly not ordered a massive crackdown on the demonstrators. He knows how badly it turned out for the Shah, Mubarak, and even Assad (who has had to deal with a seven year civil war since he massacred peaceful demonstrators in 2011) when they they used the police and army against non-violent demonstrators. He has faced protest demonstrations going back to 2010, and yet he has survived so far. Back in 2014 his regime was reported to be in crisis by the Arab press, and yet he survived. Perhaps he thinks he will survive indefinitely if he exercises restraint in responding to the protestors and makes whatever concessions he can make to them without going broke.

    Jordan’s massive financial problems seem to be at the heart of the protests, since he has been forced to raise taxes to meet the demands of the IMF and Jordan’s creditors. Many ordinary Jordanians believe they can’t afford to pay the new taxes. They even have trouble paying for the increased bus fairs in Amman.

    If the King’s schnorring, passing- the- tin- cup expeditions to the Gulf states, Washington and Europe succeed, he may live to see another day. If he can’t bring home the money at some point, probably not.

  7. As usual, the video leaves unclear where this demonstration is happening, or when. Nearly all of these videos could, conceivably, be clipps of one single demonstration, some months in the past.

    The frequent references to “Allah” in these clips is rather ominous when one considers that the people who invke “Allah” in political demonstrations and contexts are usually radical Islamists.

    Also note that no leader or political party supported by the demonstrators is mentioned. This confims claims in the Arab press that the movement is still leaderless.