Probably the most significant diplomatic trip of the entire year, in my humble opinion. The King and Queen’s visit to Qatar is incredibly important, and may signify the beginning of a thaw period between the two countries that have been at odds with each other for various reasons. Efforts to put this relationship back on track began earlier this month with the Prime Minister’s visit. During this last visit, labor agreements were signed for the first time, covering 36,000 Jordanians who already work in Qatar. Visa and travel restrictions have long been the first resort of measures taken by the Qatar government whenever problems between the two countries arose. Shutting down Al Jazeera’s local office is usually the Jordanian government’s response, or vice versa. To put this in context, it is fairly common to see Al Jazeera running a very negative report about Jordan, which is followed by Jordan shutting down their Amman office, which is followed by visa restrictions by the Qatari government, which means a lot of people either can’t go back to work or can’t go home to see their families. I’ve heard some personal stories on that level; imagine being stranded in the foreign country for several months.
In Jordanian public circles, the icy relationship is some how connected to this unofficial competition between HM Queen Rania and Sheikha Mozah, but I kind of doubt that that’s accurate, let alone realistic. Nevertheless, that is the perception that has run rampant in the public sphere for the past few years.
In any case, here’s hoping this is the beginning of a better relationship between these two countries. Qatar is some what the only Gulf country I can actually admire or at least respect from a model perspective. I just hope this whole thing doesn’t go kaput when the next Al Jazeera profile airs.
via: Jordan Times
“and may signify the beginning of a thaw period between the two countries that have been at odds with each other for various ”
Nas,,There is one reason and one reason only that led to cold relation .I don’t know if the people remember this Program on Al Jazeera
As Asad Abu Khail had wrote once in his blog”There is a deep crisis now between Qatar and Jordan (similar to the one that followed my first appearance on AlJazeera). But the crisis is not only related to the Qatari vote against the Jordanian prince who wants to be secretary-general of the UN. Jordanian government is also furious becuase AlJazeera reported about the Los Angeles Times’ article from few days ago (see the post below) which compared the Hijazi King of Jordan to the Shah of Iran. “
poor arab news service: i would be cautious of giving just one reason as the absolute, one and only reason. i think there are many and the ones you stated may be included yes, but note that the cold relation existed long before both of them ever took place.
I think that everything is related to the election of obama…The fear of more strings attached to the “unconditional” aid-and I mean that with respect to the local issues such as “reform”, the economic met down in the US and the possibilty of less aid, and a possible withdrawal from Iraq..How else can you explain all this love that we are giving to syria, hamas, IAF, and qatar? As for qatar being a model! Com’on naseem, there is no arab country that can be considered a model.If I were to choose a gulf country that is the least worst model it would be kuwait.
mohanned: that’s an interesting perspective. as for “model”, i’m talking about building a sustainable economic model. and when it comes to what qatar is doing with its resources, i can respect it. kuwait would be my second choice.
“The most significant diplomatic trip of the entire year,”
You can see diplomatic significance oozing through the charming smile of Emperor Hamad bin ” a drunkard who got tricked out of controlling a few-kilometers island by his own son while “vacationing” in Switzerland.”
What an accomplishment to have such major players on the map of international and regional politics put their “differences” (no matter how minimal) behind them for the better future of the coalition troops stationed locally and regionally …in the words of Chamberlain” “I believe it is peace for our time”.
Plus, are you saying this Royal trip is more significant than
last month’s visit to Spain, Chile, Argentina and Brazil
Or the September visit to Saudi Arabia
Or the August visit to occupied Iraq,
Or the July quick stop in Egypt,
Or the June visit to the UK,
Or the May visit to Brunei,
Or the April trip to Slovenia,
Or the March visit to the USA,
Or the February trip to Moscow
Or the January visit to Morocco,
Or last December’s visit to Paris and Starsbourg…
Come on …
Before you know it people will start deeming this visit has more diplomatic significant than the historic congress speech…
save perhaps iraq, yes, in my own opinion it was more significant than all these trips. but that’s just my opinion as i’m sure you have yours, which i guess is pretty obvious.
“Probably the most significant diplomatic trip of the entire year”
The Real Question is HOW many visits have been conducted during the last 10 years ?
I’ll tell you, 31 times the number of visits King Hussein did during his 42 years as a king.. I see that some ppl are keeping record .. me too
What were the results from all those visits – except wasting our money- ?
NOTHING ..
And for all those who say “drunkard who got tricked out of controlling a few-kilometers island by his own so” .. will take a look at that small island now ?? see, if you wanna start such cheap comparison, Jordan will certainly lose economically, politically, historically and in every other aspect including sports and media .. so chill .
The one who ruined our relations with this country in which thousands of Jordanians ppl work and live happily is our stupid system.
“If I were to choose a gulf country that is the least worst model it would be kuwait.”
Mohannad ,I don’t know where you get your information from,but Kuwait is one of the worst and most arrogant countries that helped the neocons and bush’s cabal to invade another”brotherly” Arab country. الكويت بباساطه Ø£Øدا عجول وتيوس الاستعمار
I don’t think this trip is significant. The next time the shiekh forgets to wish HM “happy birthday” all hell will break loose. Diplomats will be recalled and Jordan will threaten to strike Qatar with the full might of its airforce. Qatar will respond with visa restrictions and a well timed fart during the next Arab summit. Six months later, they will be best friends again…..until…..Qatar accuses Jordan of intentionally serving delicious chocolate biscuits when they know their man is on a diet is unable to resist chocolate biscuits. And we have another diplomatic incident….
Meanwhile, Israel inflicts misery on the Palestinians on a daily basis while enjoying warm relations with both Jordan and Qatar.
so rania and moza have beef together .. awwal sam3a ..
they should have a freestyle battle on rania’s youtube channel .. i havent seen any of her youtube videos but i would definitely watch that one ..
Distance travelled by his majesty in November of 2007 alone: 40,550 km
Maybe someone can use “the right to obtain information” law to check with the Royal Court and obtain the at-least one- official-trip-per-month budget for 2008.
Great story for any “economic” section in a daily.
Jordan needs to keep its relations with all the countries positive, it cannot afford to have any type of friction with any country.
The world is changing, views are changing and even borders might change.
HM makes great efforts for the Palestinian – Israeli situation with Jordan being his first priority.
Come on people its not an easy Job being King he cant just sit at home and expect situations to flourish he has to be out there in the Public eye travelling the world making the Jordanian presence known.
I support his initiatives and his travels he is doing it all for the good of Jordan.
HM hits so many birds with one stone when he travels, this is the way it should be played.
Unfortunately we are not an oil rich country, our imports outweigh our exports, we rely on foreign investment and therefore need marketing to evolve and promote political & social reform, tourism and educating the youth of whats to come.
Many more thoughts I could write about however I am at work 😉
Thank you for the clarification
Nobody said it is easy being the king of Jordan…
As you said it is really hard to keep committing to principles when everything is “changing”. And honestly nobody has managed to deal with those “changes” with more “flexibility” than the Hashemites.
Plus everybody knows that the hardest job in any corporation is the sales and marketing part…pushing the product, securing investments, starting peace initiatives, deeming the various branches of the government incompetent and useless, displaying the wealth of the country through designer clothing and excessive spending…you know public relations is really important these days (although I believe that the tourism part falls under the duties of Jordan Tourism Board… , but as they say “it’s (hard) to be king” ) …with “marketing” just like you said you can “convince” people that political and social reform is actually happening …and if that requires a lot of traveling …no problem …as long as we look good and attract “investors” and hit many birds with one Haute Couture Givenchy dress.
But imagine a fictional business where the salesman is spending 70 per cent of his time outside of the office, charging the company for his transportation and business suites, checks in $10,000 presidential suites in New York … (all for the well-being of the business of course) …won’t you at least want to know how much is this costing the company – out of curiosity … nothing more!
So what if they spend on trips!? Money spent is money made ..
Qatar is preparing to set up a fund worth at least $1bn to invest in the Kingdom, Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi announced on November 13, having returned from an official visit to Doha. According to Dahabi, the new organisation will strengthen Qatar’s investment presence in Jordan, targeting a wide range of sectors including real estate, industry, agriculture and tourism.
Musa – Actually a good salesman is never in the office, obviously if he is in the office he’s not doing much selling.
I am not suggesting that HM promotes tourism as you stated thats the job of others, however his presence in a wide range of countries creates curiousity/interest about Jordan, people will read and want to educate themselves and in turn you may see a rise in tourist. But on the other hand the Jordan Tourism Board have a really hard job to do in terms of making these people come back again and again and again…the foundation is laid but our lack of customer services and organisation skills still have a long way to go…
Musa – although I accept democracy and different opinions but the way you think has caused damages to thousands of families who live abroad especially in the gulf and supports jordan with several billions every year so that the country stays afloat. What do you want? Jordan to antagonize the world and gulf countries? Are you serious talking about spending money in trips? We get billions in return my friend.I guess your knowledge in politics and economics is limited.Jordan has no resources but people. We need not do anyting but marketing and PR. Our economy is simply based on four things: cost of oil, tourism revenue, gulf investments and gulf remittances.All four depends on gulf countries and marketing and PR to please them. The Net Present Value of these trips is certainly in billions
“Plus, are you saying this Royal trip is more significant than
last month’s visit to Spain, Chile, Argentina and Brazil
Or the September visit to Saudi Arabia
Or the August visit to occupied Iraq,
Or the July quick stop in Egypt,
Or the June visit to the UK,
Or the May visit to Brunei,
Or the April trip to Slovenia,
Or the March visit to the USA,
Or the February trip to Moscow
Or the January visit to Morocco,
Or last December’s visit to Paris and Starsbourg… ” lol
MUSA ,, I wonder how much money was wasted on those muted trips?
This is great news!! Thanks for the posting Nas
To reply to some of the highly critical comments – Kudos to you! The easiest thing you can do is sit on the outside, criticize, and play the role of victims. Way to go, keep it up!
On a more serious note, get real people! Do we need accountability and transparency? Of course! But any entity that is seemingly close to being called a state has to spend money on diplomatic affairs. Should we send our delegations to Qatar and Saudi Arabia on camels so that “we” can save money and for you to find something else to complain about?!
Seraj,
Thanks for supporting my point.
I agree with your quote that securing investments (even if it is in the form of a couple more hotels, office building and service-oriented consumer products) is the job of various government branches (including the prime minister) – especially when it comes to securing investments from Slovenia and Brunei.
If it became a serious issue that intervention of the palace (say something like building a steel factory or a nuclear power plant) to secure the investment…once again all what we ask for is a press release similar to the one above highlighting the “benefits” of the visit (preferably with numbers) – and if it could include a little list of how much was spent on charter flights, lodging, dresses, …etc then we can decide “if money spent is money made” …after all remember we are a small poor country that needs to solicit help and we can’t be wasting resources for “moral” gains….
Yazan,
I have to admit now that using the salesman metaphor was just a way to emphasize that his majesty is NOT a salesman – for tourism or for anything else.
Furthermore, in the age of the information revolution and the “world being a small village”, if there are people out there who are depending on a couple of glamorous monarchs touring the globe to get them interested and curious about Jordan, then there is a problem …in those people and/or in Jordan. Plus having the highest flag mast in the world is a much cheaper and a more noticeable interest generator than Jean-Paul Gaultier dresses.
Ihab,
I apologize to all those families I affected by stating the fact that the Emir of Qatar has deposed his father and left him in exile for a few years. But on the bright side I did not call him fat which could have wrecked last month’s reconciliation efforts and ruined the most significant trip of the year.
Answering to what I want, based on my admitted limited knowledge in politics and economics, is for these petty empires to stop acting like they are (regional) superpowers with strife and conflicts that needs diplomatic interventions.
We completely agree on the same things: “Jordan has no resources” with a little difference that you ASSUME that “The Net Present Value of these trips is certainly in billions” with certainty no less, while I ask for substantial evidence to weigh in the expenses/benefits of these trips – especially biking trips to South Africa.
Diala,
Spending money on diplomatic affairs is necessary, but relative. While an oil sheikdom like Qatar can afford to place its embassy in France right on the Champs Elysees, Jordan can hardly afford to use a remodeled European Chateaux as the ambassador’s house. And the exact same thing applies to every level.
While it is impossible to send our delegations on camels (after all that will make an 8-country trip in one month almost impossible, they are hardly flying economy either.
[And in his majesty’s case the camel is a long-range wide-body four-engine Airbus A340-211, pre-owned by the Sultan of Brunei. {And it will be really great if someone can get an official statement for the operating cost per flying hour over the past two years, factoring in the jet fuel prices and that the A340-200 is designed to carry 236-260 passenger}
I think we all agreed that Jordan is a poor country and cannot afford acting like a gulf sheikdom…
On Any Level…
I have to disagree, Jordan is not poor, Jordan is rich.
Rich in Education
Rich in Culture
Rich in History
Rich in Pride
Rich in Honour
Rich in Politics
Rich in Knowledge
Rich in Technology
Rich in Liberalism
Rich in Medicine
Rich in Youth
That is Jordan…With any country there is always room for improvement
“Money dont make a man, Man makes the money”
Urduni, sorry for the late reply, but I also don’t know how you read..If you go back you will see that I said it is the least worst in my opinion..Politically they are light years ahead of any gulf state and even jordan…But all in all we all live in dictatorships.
Yazan majali, Are you serious? Education? Don’t think so..Culture, maybe..History, it is the place, not the people…Pride, well depends on how you define it..Honour, we all can see it in honour crimes..Politics, non-existent…Knowledge, not-usable..Technology, pre-historic…Liberalism, punished..Medicine, depends on your wasta..Youth, left the country..
“[And in his majesty’s case the camel is a long-range wide-body four-engine Airbus A340-211, pre-owned by the Sultan of Brunei. {And it will be really great if someone can get an official statement for the operating cost per flying hour over the past two years, factoring in the jet fuel prices and that the A340-200 is designed to carry 236-260 passenger}”
Musa,,When I visited Amman last summer ,I met friend of mine that has been working for Royal Jordanian Airline as A captain for 27 years ,and I asked him how much does cost to fly Airbus from Amman to New york and he told me ,120000 dollars for fuel only and that without taxing and maintenance check or wages for the crew .there you have ladies and gentlemen,if we add up all the trips cost for the last 8 years we are talking about millions of dollars wasted on muted and unnecessary trips and expenditure .
By the way,,Does anybody know how much the royal family receives in wages every year,I bet this is not even recorded in ديوان المØاسبه
Musa – I have to respect your resilience and ability to fight on so many fronts.However, it will serve no purpose to describe Arab leaders in the way you described Qatar Emir. If you have a bitter experience you should not affect many lives for personal revenge. In the final analysis, it is very clear from this discussion that most of us disagree with you so accept democracy and give up
To Ihab.. NOP .. There are a lot of ppl who do agree with Musa, but for some reason we have been censored . I have the right to know how much the royal family receives in wages every year. I have to right to know how Much Queen Rania spends on herself..
And to Yazan …
We in Jordan live on some big lies such as
1- We have strong Army
2- We have good education
3- We have good health care system
4- We have the Youth
5- We have Technology
Well let me tell you something .. NON of the above is true.
I said before in my comment that we need to start talking about such things in Jordan .. NO ONE is above the low ..
*PLEASE DO NOT DELETE MY COMMENT .. I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY
Ibrahim Salem: before you go in to a “i was censored” rant, please note that your comment was not deleted but in fact held by my comment filter. you are free to express your opinion as a commentator on this blog but please do so in a respectful manner, i.e. no need for profanity to make your point as your last comment demonstrates you have that ability.
moreover, since you mentioned it, there is no such thing as you taking full responsibility for what you say. at the end of the day, it is the blogger who is held accountable for what people say on his or her blog, even if he disagrees with them.
Thanks.
I understand and I apologize ..
To Ibrahim Salem – your attitude and disrespect are the very reason for our nation’s suffering – you just see the negatives and present yourself as abu Zeid al-hilali. The minute people like you are given freedom, our country will be in chaos like Iraq, lebanon and Palestine. Unfortunately, the amount of hatred that we have towards each other simply means we are not ready for democracy. May God keep the Royal family in power – we do not need chaos
To Ihab .. One of the major problems in Jordan that stands in the way of our freedom is that people are afraid of freedom… The corrupted regime has successfully built this fear in your mind..
“we do not need chaos” “Look what happened in Iraq when people asked for freedom” “freedom is a monster that is gonna kill us” “the king knows best and he is always right” “The royal family is the reason why we are alive” “can you imagine our lives without the king”. These are just examples from the lies the system was able to implant successfully in people’s minds .. Actually hats off for the system…
NO FREE COUNTRY in the world is like Jordan, people all over the world have the right to elect their governments and their officials
While in Jordan KA II has the right to dissolve the parliament and he did that twice during the last 10 years. He changed the governments 7 or 8 times!!! NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMANITY DID THAT.
We have one of the worst elections laws in the world, our economy, education, health care systems are going down.
What else .. I’ll give you just one example, Listen carefully to what he said once when he was interviewed by ABC news .. He was asked why he does not allow Jordan people electing their governments and his answer was “My ppl is not mature enough yet to take such a step” .. See, he insulted all of us claiming that we are not mature enough.. and I can go forever giving more examples.
I have a lot of rage inside me that’s right, and ppl like you is the reason ..
To sum up, people who support the regime in Jordan can be classified into 3 groups
1- Silly: they do not know what’s going on with built-in fear (Majority)
2- Corrupted: they benefit from the current situation (a considerable amount)
3- Smart but afraid: so they took the highway and buried their heads in the sand (minority)
Thank you NAS for giving us the freedom of speech .. respect for you man.
Since the discussion has shifted to the so called political development by ihab and Ibrahim Salem here is toujan faisal (first segment) speaking about at university of Chicago and here is the second segment
Please listen carefully what she had to say and thank you
Ibrahim Salem, do you have a link to the video of the ABC news? I don’t believe King Abdulla would say something like that.
and it is funny how you acuse him of insulting all of us while you do the same few lines below!
There is a big room for improvement in Jordan, but I, as a Jordanian citizen, is very happy with the way King Abdulla is leading the country. You can go back and check every possible statistic and every single achievement this country did since he was appointed. We are definatly doing fairly good.
“The minute people like you are given freedom, our country will be in chaos like Iraq, lebanon and Palestine. ”
Who are you to decide and even tell what can happen in the future? If all citizens are granted the same rights regardless of their origin, color, relegion and even sexual orientation there will be peace..If you have a strong middle class, you will have peace..If you have a country of real institutions that is not dependent on the existence of one person, then you will have peace…
Observer.
I don’t think that we are reading the same news…Or at least I think I read the news differently..
Given Jordan’s resources, no other leadership can achieve what the current has achieved. There are problems and mistakes. The real problem, however, is big mouth, hatred and lack of understanding of facts on the ground.Some people can never be happy until they see fire and bullets everywhere. Just thank Allah for the peace and security that we have in Jordan. We are not living in the world of Aflaton. We need to know what assets we have before we ask for perfection.
Observer: Just to be clear man, Im talking about Jordan, the country in the middle east. I do not really know what you are talking about. Actually in the country I’m talking about a 60 year old respectful professor was sent to jail for 15 days last month because she refused to hang the King’s picture on the wall of her office.
and BTW I did not insult anybody I just classified people who SUPPORT the regime. If you have another classification please go ahead. Please listen to the audio posted by “Alurdunialhurr” and it’ll give you another example where KA II insulted us.
and here is the link for the interview
“http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=583538” please try to read with an open-mind, read between the lines .. man, I could go for a PHD with this interview.
Alurdunialhurr : PERFECT…. Respect for this lady.
Mohanned : Very good point indeed.
Ihab: Rehab :), It is funny how you are just giving life examples of what I was saying, now people will think that we are working together. … Man, Free your mind from those lies or what you called “Facts on the ground” .. and trust me freedom is good …
+ How do you know that “no other leadership can achieve what the current has achieved”, man, for God sake.. we have the same leadership since like 60 years .. so what is your criteria for comparison. my advice to you is “Stop watching Jordan TV” and “Stop reading Alrai”.
Finally Just to be clear I’m not asking for a revolution like the french or the Irani revolutions (with the huge difference between the two cases ) all what I’m asking for is a “Constitutional Monarchy”
something like UK, Holland or Spain …
UK and Spain – that’s right dream my friend – no water no oil, longest border with Israel, poverty, etc. Dream – I advise you to seek a US nationality and there you are free to bombard Iraq and kill muslims –
Man … I cant really understand you now .. you sound like a broken record .. what killing Muslims has to do with what we are saying here ..
I can only feel sorry for you. Oil we DO have oil, but for some reason your corrupted system denied that, fired the American company that made the first discovery announcement and switched to an Indian company !! . and BTW that American company is suing Jordan now for 1 billion dollar .. NICE. Anyway, this was just a side note.
PLEASE stop repeating what you hear from officials in Jordan and use your mind .. just once. When I said UK & ES I was referring to them politically not economically. The fact that we are poor does not mean that we do not deserve freedom.
Go sleep – it seems you have a lot of time at your hand – spread hate somewhere else – btw i will not reply to you anymore – just to know there is nothing called freedom – you think America or western people have freedom – if they do they would not allow their financial system to break loose and drag the world with it – I am not sure if you understand what I am talking about because your tunnel thinking and mental accounting is very clear – hate my friend as you wish – I rest my case
Hate … man .. see, I’m really glad with the way you replied to my comments .. this shows that you do not have anything to say … just accusing people of being hateful. you have NO CASE to rest buddy.
Yes I do have a LOT of time in my hands and instead of wasting that time listening to “Omar Al-abdallat” songs I use it in making change and spread the awareness of the true situation in Jordan.
Thank you Ibrahim Salem for your comments and analysis of our abysmal record on the state of the so called “our” government which we never voted in or supported.
It is people like you Ibrahim and Musa that want to make meaningful change for our country, just why every time we criticize this corrupt government ,we are automatically branded as haters or un Jordanians ,why every time we criticize the government and the king for mismanagement of our treasury and the abuses of public funds we are branded as trouble makers,it is mind boggling for myself and for millions of Jordanian that have been working and dedicating most of their life for the betterment of this country
we all have stake in our country, specially, people like Ibrahim and Musa that they are trying to educate the people amd make them aware of “our” government mismanagement and the rampant corruption that has been ruling our country for too long.
For ihab,,Ian not trying to defend Musa or Ibrahim as you all notice,they can defend their argument without me injecting word of praise ,for those two real patriots even though I don’t like to use the word patriots because I hate patriotism and i think,
it’s one of the source of many military conflict around the world.
finally ,please Ihab listen to what Toujan al faisal had to say in the last post I provided.
And last and not least, I like to thank Nassem for his courage and patient with me..
Then I will reply to you and beg you to be objective – all your comments guys are negative which shows immaturity – we cannot be that bad – we are doing better than many many others – BE OBJECTIVE look at the goods and bads cannot you?
منقول
نشرت الصØ٠الاردنية صورا لشاØنات تخرج من مخازن قصور الملك ÙÙŠ عمان وتØمل ياÙطات تقول قواÙÙ„ الخير الهاشمية تتوج Ù†ØÙˆ الجنوب لتكرس
سياسة اعتمدها الملك الØالي من ان اغتصب الØكم من عمه وتقوم السياسة على تذكير الاردنيين دائما بانهم يعيشون من خير ال هاشم وهي معلومة مغلوطة وكاذبة لمن قرأ تاريخ الاردن Ùال هاشم هم الذين عاشوا من خير الاردنيين ومؤسس امارة شرق الاردن لم يجد عندما وصل الى مدينة معان مكانا ينام Ùيه الا Ù…Øطة سكة الØديد ÙˆÙÙŠ عمان نام ÙÙŠ منزل زعيم الشركس … ÙˆÙÙŠ مذكراته ( مهنتي كملك ) قال الملك Øسين ان امه لم يكن معها ايجار الشقة التي استأجروها ÙÙŠ جبل اللويبدة Ùاضطرت الى بيه دراجته الهوائية لتسديد ايجار الشقة … ÙÙƒÙŠÙ Ø§ØµØ¨Ø Ù„Ø§Ù„ هاشم مضارب يوزعون من قصورها قواÙÙ„ الخير على الاردنيين … ولماذا تصور المساعدات الØكومية للاردنيين على انها مساعدات هاشمية ولماذا يتم تصوير هذه الوقواÙÙ„ واØيانا تصوير الملكة رانيا وهي توزع الكراتين على الÙقراء وهل هناك هد٠اخر غير تØقير الشعب الاردني مع ان هذه هي بلاده وهذه هي خيراته ومن Øقه الØصول علىيها دون منة من الملك وزوجته … ÙÙŠ معظم دول العالم هناك وزارة للشئون الاجتماعية والخدمات وهي تقدم مساعدات للعائلاة الÙقيرة ÙˆÙÙŠ الاردن وزارة من هذا النوع Ùلماذا يصر القصر على الكذب والزعم ان هذه الاموال هي تبرعات من ال هاشم مع انها اموال الاردنيين وتم جمعها عن طريق الضرائب او من خلال المساعدات الدولية التي تقدم للشعب الاردني وليس لال هاشم
لقد ضربت المسمار على رأسه يا أبراهيم عندما نقلت مقال عن ال هاشم
I urge every Jordanian citizen to read Professores Joseph Masada’s book and here is critique of hisbook read so you can pull your head out of the sand..
well actually Mohanned Jordanian Youth are the most educated in the region, our education system (universities) are of a high calibre compared to other countries in the region.
The percentage of youth with an obove literacy level is one of the highest in the region.
So please my Brother do some research before comment…food for thought that confirms what I said through your comments…is that yes the youth are leaving! but ask yourself why!…it is because YES they are educated but unfortunatley not given the oppurtunity to develop these skills, and are offered better wages and positions in the gulf.
As for our health system again you must compare with the countries in the region…we have the best eye clinic in the region, we have the best cancer treatment centre in the region, our medical tourism sector is booming when was the last time you drove through Khalidi centre.
As for HM efforts I am sure no one can deny that all is for the good of Jordan and Jordans future.
Ibrahim Salem – I never mentioned at any point that Jordan has the biggest Army.
I wanna just reiterate that my point is that Jordan is economically poor, the only thing we can market is a good political strategy on the international arena (forget domestic for a while), keep excellent relations with our neighbours and the west, because without these good relations Jordan would not be in the best position.
Yazan – I thank you for these answers – nobody can deny them. I live abroad like the other guys who critisize Jordan and its leadership and I travel a lot and I feel proud that I am Jordanian. Our leadership is doing very well in preserving very positive image for Jordan.I am neither silly nor corrupt nor afraid. I studied in UK and US and work and live outside Jordan but I simply love my country and its leadership without watching Jordanian TV or reading Jordanian newspapers.
I do not really know why my last comment is awaiting moderation..
Man, if the cup is 1/10 full and you are looking at the full side of it then you are just fooling yourself. And please stop talking in this defensive tone, this is what the system wants us to be, nothing but a cattle of sheep who lives because of the Kings gifts (al Makromat al malakeya) this stupid thing converted us into a group of beggars who wait for the King to give us something from OUR money .. man doesn’t this remind you of the 19th century
Man we deserve better than that, I need the government to pay my health and education bills, I need to be treated respectfully whenever I’m in a governmental institution, I need all my rights as a citizen who pays taxes. And please please do not start talking now about our limited resources in Jordan because we do have enough resources or at least we can have a better utilization for what we have (e.g. The expenses of KA visits last year is more than enough to cover the oil bill)
I and you need to start talking in this tone “I deserve betterâ€, move toward this goal and trust me once the regime sense that we are not silly stupid people anymore things will start to change.
Ihab.. You have the right to be proud of your country, we are all proud of Jordan this is why I do not wanna the world to see the ugly face of the regime in Jordan. people around the world will respect you if fight for your freedom.. Did you read the ABC article I posted before, this is how the world look at us. what else should we expect, we have the same ppl controlling this country since like 60 years.. How do you expect people around the world to respect that, go and look around in their media we are nothing but a typical corrupted small country of the middle east who lives in the other free countries leftovers.. sad but true… AGAIN we deserve better than that. I mean for God sake you say you lived in UK and USA aren’t you jealous man from the freedom and respect those ppl have !!
I simply disagree with you. I see our leadership better than most of other countries. You will reach same conclusion when you get older. I feel you are still a student that’s why I decided not to reply to you but you cannot give up
Man .. you are insulting my intelligence here .. What do you mean I’m still a student. see, this is your problem, you did not provide any objective reply to my comments. all what you have is “haters” “you still young” “We are proud” .. man say something that I can discuss.
IT IS TRUE .. Im not gonna give up, Im gonna fight until the last day of my life,giving up is for losers who descided to accept the sitauion and never fight back.
Let me ask you this: Do you believe that we In Jordan deserve a better life? do you belive that this is not it, and that the situation could be much better than its now? this is all what I want from you, just be honest with yourself for one time.
You disagree with me, I understand that, and I know not all the people are gonna agree with me because of the reasons I mentioned earlier. I know that you and a lot of people like you grew up on those false believes (the King is always right) and I do not expect you to change in a night .. but I do have hope.
Dear Ibrahim,
I agree with what you are saying 100% However what your talking about is a very very hard job.
Jordan is in very bad international debt. We have been invaded by a US style society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, moreover insurance companies are bleeding the people dry.
Why not increase the duty on cigarettes and shift that into the health system! there are simple solutions to many problems but like you said cattle of sheep is a good description…However that does not mean that HM trips are a hinderance to our sociey or to our well being, NO they are positive. Jordan has played a major role in Middle Eastern politics and will continue to do so. We are ruled by Hashemites who must remain for the good of Jordan and its future…
for any advancements that your talking about to occur then we must start at school level, a whole mind frame and attitude must change.
and I am saying this because yes I feel I deserve better…
I mean below are some of my thoughts i posted on facebook
stop corruption
introduce human rights
businesses keeping to deadlines
improve ADSL services….dont charge customers a full months rent when
every other night the internet is disrupted for no less than 3 hours.
introduce consumer rights watch.
ban restaurants who taunt there customers for a TIP.
reduce customs tax on cars.
ban the guys who whisltes for candy floss or give them a time when they can market their shit.
learn how to drive. (everyone)
introduce compitent traffic police.
please please please widen the pavement for pedestrians and stop planting those shitty olive trees. the pavement (walkway) is ment for people not for tree, if your so determined to plant trees plant trees with high folliage so we can have room to walk and dont have to walk on the road.
give journalists full freedom of speech, let them critisize, let them research give them access to all infromation….one REDLINE and thats his Majesty.
make hospitals treat people with respect and provide full information on any case, they assume that people are uneducated and therefore do not provide full information unless that information is requested…this should be automatically done and not requested..
last but not least this is something that we can all do and be tough with;
do not let retail outlets control things, we are the consumers without us they are nothing. remember we are a small country and word of mouth can either make or break them.
always ask for explanation if your unsure of anything it is your right to know, they take for granted that we are polite and tend not to ask for further explanation.
last but not least lets try to smile more i know its difficult but lets give it a shot:-)
nearly forgot – every household should always have prior notice if electricity is going to be cut off for technical work….plus we should be reimbursed with any downtime.
below is a reply i wrote to one guy on facebook
we can make not just Amman but all of Jordan better than that.
no comment as to
I love Amman because we have hundreds of newspapers and our press is finally Free. you must be joking….inshallah one day it will happen
and
I love Amman because each street is a two way street even if it’s officially one-way…….. well thats not actually a positive most people hate it.
and
I love Amman because of the traffic jams and the people you meet because of them………. most actually find it annoying!!
I love Amman because of the noise pollution from cars honking……you forgot to mention the dirty fumes from tha old cars…thats slowly reducing our life expectancy
I love Amman because strawberries taste like strawberries & fruits taste like fruits……no they dont unless they are importded
(fruits here r full of cytokines genetically modified plus chemicals)
we should have more ambition to making Amman a truly nice place to live, not just accepting things that are actually backward and annoying
look the problems lie rooted deep in society I see it as a type of insecurity or even maybe an inferior and or superiority complex (not likely but a mixture of both)
thats what I think
but at the end of they day HM is doing an excellent job with what he has to work with ta3eeesh jalalet malek ta3eeeh ta3eesh ta3eesh.
my comment is too long thats why it is waiting moderation
It is like talking to saleh gallab..
Hi Yazen,
“However what your talking about is a very very hard job.”
I believe this was NOT the spirit Barack Obama had when he started his campaign in 2006.
Saying “Stop corruption” does not help
Lets review 5 major public corruption cases during the last 10 years:
1 – Same7 Al-Batai’7i: Global business gate .. 150 million $
2- Ma3roof alba’7eet: Dead sea casino, 1 billion $ case .. solved with 250 million $ compensation and half of the dead sea beach
3- Ali abu Ra’3eb: 600 000 $, one night before he resigned
4- Basem awad-allah: Sold 50% from the country origins, and finally a slavery case in USA (speaking our public image)
5-Abdel-Raouf Al-Rawabdeh: Sold Al-Aqaba beach with .01 of the actual price .. we lost 250 million $ in that deal
Now I believe that we all know that the above list can go forever .. but lets just talk about the above 5 cases. Have you noticed that there is something in common between all the above names .. Yes, they are all KA II men. i.e. His prime ministers i.e. His selection. doesn’t that give you a hint that this guy (KA) is not the best man in the world to hire a government? I mean we gave him not 1,2 or 3 we gave him 6 chances and he failed badly in each one of them .. can you imagine that a guy failed 6 times in the last 10 years is still ruling .. cant he give us the chance at least 1 time to decide who leads our government.
I appreciate all the point you are talking about, but see, it is all small details .. you can not fix the leaves of the tree if the root is dying. you need to work first on the root i.e. the head leadership
A very ironic thing is that KA left directly after his visit to Qatar to South Korea, I believe he stopped in Jordan for like 5 hours to fill the plane and get some cash. I’m really wondering when was the last time he visited Jordan!
I really do not appreciate the fact that you are blaming the society i.e. it is our fault. This is exactly kinda tone I was talking about before .. and I’m not gonna finish by “Ya3eesh” you know why, because I believe that Jordan is gonna survive with or without him. You can not couple the existence of a country with the existence of one man .. this might have been true in the 19th or 18th century but now at the 20th century, sorry, it DOES NOT APPLY.
Now after all of what I’ve said .. do you really still believe that “at the end of they day HM is doing an excellent job” ????
Yazan,
With every post you are hurting your case and not helping it…and as trivial and sometimes utterly ridiculous your “facebook proposals” are (I really can’t tell if you were aiming for humor in most of them), you managed to completely nullify them and make them even more meaningless with an ending that is way more fitting for a “forsan al-taghyeer” meeting at the royal court, than a small online discussion.
As for a
“one REDLINE and (thats) his Majesty”
luckily it is not up to you to decide. As long as his majesty is heavily involved in the executive branch of the government and remains the main (if not the sole) decision maker as we agreed above and we can easily tell by the range of his activities from “diplomatic” visits to budget-interfering charity to governmental and army employees and everything in between, those activities are to be a subject of debate and (gulp) questioning.
We are not discussing if he is good for the country or not, neither are we discussing the importance of the Hashemites to Jordan, the only issue here is that since his majesty is human (although allegedly the direct descendant of the prophet Mohammad, the prophet himself was not infallible) and given the fact that he interferes (is involved) directly and indirectly (through the assigning of different people at many vital positions…including the prime minister) in every aspect of the Jordanian state policies then he should not be immune to questioning.
Anyone who suggests otherwise is convinced that:
-We live in theocracy where the ruler is an impeccable God ( Greek mythology and African dictatorships)
-We live in a constitutional monarchy (England, Netherlands).
[And we just agreed that the king plays an active and not an honorary role. (Whether we need him to stay in this active role or whether we are in a position to allow the palace to take an observatory back seat and let “democracy” take its natural course is another debate for another time).]
-We live under an autocratic regime that is afraid of questioning, recruits people to discourage its questioning and may even resort to its police apparatus if needed)
If you can provide any other reasons why his majesty’s decisions (and to a certain point his finances) should not be discussed publicly and openly please go ahead and point it out…
Even if we are confident that his majesty does have the good of the Jordanian people as his main priority and ultimate goal there is nothing to guarantee that every decision he makes is going to be flawless. Rulers throughout history could get corrupted by ultimate power, they could get too attached to lavish lifestyles and wealth that it becomes the (main or side) objective, and rulers could end up being surrounded by corrupt leaches (although in his majesty’s case, and according to his interview, he is neither unaware of what they are doing nor is he their partner),
Well my facebook entries are a light hearted but true at the same time.
My brother what does it mean to be patriotic.
Does it mean placing HM pictures every where?
Does it mean listening to omar abdallat?
…NO…
I drive through Amman and its normal for people to throw litter out of their cars…that hurts…its your country and people cant even keep it dirt free.
When was the last time you saw a litter bin in pubic?
We should take care of our country in all aspects before we can critisize HM, and if you are about making comments not once throught this whole debate have I heard a small mention about the two brothers who are actually running the country, well actually one brother who I feel kind of nudges the other one along.
Look I know everything that goes on in Jordan and since I have come to Jordan I have come up with some rules;
Get the info from a primary source (from the horses mouth)
Dont trust anyone who says trust me
Always apply game theory when trying to make a decision or in negotiation
and finally
Always count your fingers after shaking someones hand, just in case he tries to rob a couple of fingers.
I am commenting with regards to the original article which is about HM visits, I believe they are usefull and needed at this time.
I predict some changes in Government after Eid…I hope that these changes are for the good
“I hope that these changes are for the good” Oh really … You have not gave up yet !! isn’t that just pathetic? Can you tell me please, How many governments we had during the last 10 years ?
See, you are still talking in that tone, and again, like “Ihab”, I’m not gonna blame you, because you grew up on that. You are just burying your head in sand, that’s all what you, and other people are doing. You did not answer any of my questions, who was the source of all the corruption cases in Jordan for the last 10 years? Who brought those corrupted guys?? Isn’t he the same guy who you think “at the end of the day he is doing an excellent Job”, I really need you to define “Excellent Job”, because I think what KA does excellently is NOTHING but spending our money on himself (and sure, his cool youtuber wife). BTW where is he these days, Korea, USA, Brazil, really does anyone know?
“We should take care of our country in all aspects before we can criticize HM”
It’s not our country man, it is the private ranch of HM, again, you are missing the point, Anyway, if you are gonna reply to my comment with “Ya3eeshâ€, PLEASE DON’T, I do not feel like vomiting tonight.
My friend read what I wrote again and again and try to do a little analysis you seem to be some person who is against the system, viva che, peace lets smoke weed type of guy…it is in fact you who lives in this ideal world who dreams about what things could be instead of thinking what reality is, have you lived for a period of longer than 10 years outside Jordan?
if you have or even if you haven’t you are the one who is affected by the fashion trends and and gossip without reading between the lines and having your own opinion… let me hear something original from you show me some proof of these corrupt cases…since when has abdel raoof rawabdeh been HM man? please understand the politics inside your own country before trying to comment on it..
I predict your an 80’s child and even if your older you probably haven’t read real history or you have
had stories told to you by relatives who claim they were there! in addition all your sources seem tertiary or even quartanary as what you say doesn’t even hold water. so please get your facts, understand everything, obtain reliable sources, obtain evidence if you can, and finally read the picture and analyse with a more open mind and objective views.
Thank
Right, I’m against the system, but what system?? I’m against any corrupted system in which one man controls everything, I’m against the system which protects corrupted people, I’m against the system which kills my freedom, the system in which one man (KA) can shatter the democracy in a minute (the right to dissolve the parliament), I’m against the system which steals my land and sells my county, I’m against the system which is controlled by a family with a history full of betrayals (take a look at this book, it is banned in Jordan so Amazon is the best way to get it
http://www.amazon.com/Abdullah-Britain-Making-Cambridge-Library/dp/0521324211 ).
You need a proof for the corruption cases.. Well, let me see, Sameh alba7ikhi was sentenced to 4 years by Jordanian court – and by the way he spent his period in his spa in Aqaba beach – and after that he started his own security company (http://oasis-security.com/OS_Mgt_Samih.html)
Bassem awadallah is facing charges now in the US for slavery cases; I’ll send you the case number very soon.
Ma3roof Alba’7eet in addition to poisoning half of the country he is accused of one of the largest corruption cases in the history of Jordan (dead sea casino) I believe you’ve heard of it, if not then you have a problem may friend, btw (http://www.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=20999)
Anyway .. I don’t have time to go through the other cases. If you want you can ask any 10 year old kid in Jordan and he’ll tell you the details.
and by the way, you said that you posted “Stop corruption†on your facebook page .. I’m sure you had convenient reasons to write that.
“finally read the picture.. †Trust me, I did all that in a very systematic professional way, actually I’m writing a book about it, the book will include analysis of KA visits (when and why). Such as the usual visit to the US two week before each Arabic summit, his visit to Israel one night before Yassen assassination, his last visit to Azerbaijan, His visits to Brunei, his suspicious relations with AL-Hariri family … etc
Anyway we’ve been talking about this since like two weeks and its the Eid now, so Happy Adha for you and everybody else who reads this blog.
IMPORTANT .. The first part of my comment is still awaiting moderation. Please Nas, fix that. I think it is the link I posted.
My Comment – Part 1 –
Right, I’m against the system, but what system?? I’m against any corrupted system in which one man controls everything, I’m against the system which protects corrupted people, I’m against the system which kills my freedom, the system in which one man (KA) can shatter the democracy in a minute (the right to dissolve the parliament), I’m against the system which steals my land and sells my county, I’m against the system which is controlled by a family with a history full of betrayals (take a look at this book, it is banned in Jordan so Amazon is the best way to get it “KA, Britain and the Making of Jordan (Cambridge Middle East Library”)
You need a proof for the corruption cases.. Well, let me see, Sameh alba7ikhi was sentenced to 4 years by Jordanian court – and by the way he spent his period in his spa in Aqaba beach – and after that he started his own security company (http://oasis-security.com/OS_Mgt_Samih.html)
Bassem awadallah is facing charges now in the US for slavery cases; I’ll send you the case number very soon.
Well if you a reader of ammonnews then its not a suprise that your views are what they are…
Yazan, I advise you not to waste more of your time replying to Ibrahim Salem – you will send him two lines and he will reply with two pages
We love Jordan, we need a strong relation bewteen the country since so long and we were desprit to it, Guys, you are just bloging about money and how much has been spent on trips …………… quit this talk and thin big to a better situations.
Wish them all luck….
What is the matter ?
Everyone should respect the other countries and cultures
Almost 2 years on from this post and still Jordanians are not being allowed into Qatar except on a Visit visa for the Asian Football championships recently. Why? God only knows. What we do know is that families are separated and continue to be so until the Jordanians and Qatari Governments get this issue sorted….Come on guys let bygones be bygones and get over yourselves.